Entrée time! Since I’m doing this particular book in tea party format, I loathe the idea of making anything too heavy. Still, I must admit I’m a carnivore at heart and don’t feel that a meal is complete without some good ol’ meat. Luckily, my mom’s delicious beef pasties are the best of both worlds: deliciously light and fluffy, yet soooo satisfying!

NOTE: The filling for the pasties can be prepared one of two ways. My mom always makes these pasties with leftover pot roast from this recipe, so that’s how I do it. But if you’re short on time, I’ve seen packs of pre-chopped pot roast components in the butcher section of some grocery stores–that should do the trick! You’ll just want to make sure they’re cooked through first, before using them in the pasties.

The Panther’s Pasties

“I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie:
The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat,
While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat.”
— Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup cooked cubed roast beef
• 1 cup cooked chopped potatoes
• 1 cup beef gravy (the pot roast recipe I use makes it own gravy, but here’s a great gravy recipe if you’re using a pot roast pack)
• 1/2 cup cooked chopped baby carrot
• 1/2 cup cooked chopped sweet onion
• 1 tbsp snipped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 pack of puff pastry sheets (should contain two sheets–keep it in the fridge until you’re ready for it!)
• some half-and-half for coating the pastry
• NOTE: Add more seasoning if using a pot roast pack. The pot roast recipe I use already has these spices in abundance, so only a little more was necessary.
• Makes 18 pasties
  

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Combine all the chopped materials (meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions) in a large bowl. Then add the gravy and seasonings.
3. Stir ‘er up!
4. Line two cookie sheets with tinfoil, then take your puff pastry out of the fridge.
5. Using kitchen scissors, cut each sheet of puff pastry into squares. I got about 9 squares from each sheet.
6. Place the pastry squares on the cookie sheet and top each with a spoonful of filling.
7. Now you’ll want to pinch the edges. To do this, take each side of the pastry and pinch it in the middle, to form a corner. The dough holds the pinch a little better while cold, so you might want to cut, fill, and pinch the puff pastry one sheet at a time (while keeping the other sheet refrigerated). Here’s a step-by-step guide:
   
8. Using a pastry brush, coat the pastry with a thin layer of half-and-half. Since the pasties won’t be in the oven long, this allows them to get a lovely brown crust on top.
9. Place pasties in the oven for 10-13 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. This is where the tinfoil comes in handy, because these buggers love to stick! I’ve found the best way is to work them off the tinfoil with a metal spatula. The foil rarely tears, and you save your pan from scrubbing!
11. Don’t freak out if your pasties don’t all come out in tidy little squares. The pinching is primarily to keep the filling from spilling out, and the funky shapes are part of what make this dish so endearing!
    
12. You can scarf them down right away like I did, or store in the freezer for future yumminess. Enjoy while reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland! 🙂

 

 

 

 

Here’s the Yummly Printable!

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