Bacon Pasties

A community recipe by redhead

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

Introduction

This is traditional Latvian thing for all celebrations - Midsummer, Christmas... and I could eat them all year long. This is labour intensive project, and you have to have time on your hands - both for cooking, and for eating.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

Metric Cups

500 millilitres milk (not low fat)
30 grams fresh yeast
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons caster sugar (for yeast)
700 grams flour (more if you need it)
1 butter Soft
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for greasing of bowl filling)
400 grams smokey bacon (cubed)
3 large onions (cubed)

17½ fluid ounces milk (not low fat)
1 ounce fresh yeast
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons superfine sugar (for yeast)
25 ounces flour (more if you need it)
1 butter Soft
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for greasing of bowl filling)
14 ounces smokey bacon (cubed)
3 large onions (cubed)

Method

Bacon Pasties is a community recipe submitted by redhead and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Make the yeast dough:

Heat up the milk in a pan to the point when you can comfortably hold your finger in. If it is hotter, leave to cool to the finger friendly temperature.

Divide the milk roughly in half, pour one half into a roomy bowl, leave the other half in a pan. Add 2 tbsp of sugar to the pan, mix until sugar dissolves.

Add the fresh yeast. Stand covered until yeast gets frothy.

To the milk in the bowl add creme fraiche, salt and 1 dsp sugar. Sift in about 400g of flour, mix. It does not look pretty, and you should not be worried about lumps. When the yeasty milk is frothy and you have mixed it so that it is homogenous, add this to the bowl. Mix.

Sift in about 2/3rds of the remaining flour. Mix again with a spoon and start kneading. It will be v. sticky. Add more flour by spoonfuls. When the dough gets less sticky and almost manageable, knead in the butter.

Spoon over a spoonful of flour, knead, until you start feeling the dough becoming springy. Wash out the bowl, dry it in a tea towel - this is b/c the unkneaded dough makes the kneaded dough to stick. Pour in about a spoonful of vegetable or olive oil, turn the dough ball in it until it is all shiny.

Press a cross with your fingers on top (this is traditional and I always do this - should help the dough to rise!) Dust lightly with flour, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hr.

This is the place where I usually start to cut up the filling - cut onions, cut bacon in cubes. Put all together in a saute pan, cook on a low heat. This should render the fat from the meat and cook the onions until they are translucent and almost melted in the fat. When you think this is cooked, put the lot in a sieve upon a bowl to render out the unneeded extra fat rendered.

After 1 hr punch the dough, and leave it to raise for about 30 mins more. Roll out the dough (do not aim for very thin), put some filling (about a tsp) on the dough, fold the dough over and cut out a smallish pasty with an upturned wine glass.

Press the edges together and put on a lined baking sheet with the edge down on the bottom. Continue to make the pasties. When you have filled up a baking sheet, brush with beaten egg.

Bake in a preheated 180C oven until golden. Take out and brush with water (this helps to make the pastry feel really light). If you have some left over for a day or two and they have gone slightly stale, brush with water and reheat in microwave.

Make the yeast dough:

Heat up the milk in a pan to the point when you can comfortably hold your finger in. If it is hotter, leave to cool to the finger friendly temperature.

Divide the milk roughly in half, pour one half into a roomy bowl, leave the other half in a pan. Add 2 tbsp of sugar to the pan, mix until sugar dissolves.

Add the fresh yeast. Stand covered until yeast gets frothy.

Press the edges together and put on a lined baking sheet with the edge down on the bottom. Continue to make the pasties. When you have filled up a baking sheet, brush with beaten egg.