Pumpkin Pasties
Ingredients
1 small pie pumpkin (it must be a pie pumpkin and not a carving pumpkin!) OR 1 large butternut squash (the butternut squash is be a little more sweet, but the texture is similar, and it's available for a much larger percentage of the year, so it's a good substitution)
2 ounces of unsliced pancetta (optional)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
2-3 onions (Depends on how large your onions are and how much you love them. I used 2 small and 1 medium.)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon dried tarragon OR 1 teaspoon of powdered thyme OR 1/2 teaspoon of powdered rosemary OR 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage (all will taste nice, just pick one so you don't overwhelm your vegetable flavors)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
sprinkle of salt
1/3 cup of white wine OR 1/3 cup of broth
4-8 ounces of goat cheese (depending on your budget and how much you like goat cheese)
1 batch of hot water pastry
A couple of notes before we get started:
-There are basically four components to this recipe: 3 layers of filling and crust. The crust needs to be used as soon as it's made, but the fillings can all be prepared ahead of time. If fact, I prefer to assemble the pasties with room temperature fillings, so I like to spread out the prep time through the day.
-As you cook, taste the individual fillings. They should each be a pleasant level of saltiness by themselves. However, if you taste your cheese and it's super salty, just make your onions less salty. If you accidentally over salt your onions, add a little less to your pumpkin, and so on. If everything is not quite salty enough, add a little more.
Pumpkin Filling
-Cut the ends of your pumpkin/squash, then peel it with a sturdy vegetable peeler. (If you don't have a vegetable peeler, slice it into pieces then carefully peel each segment with a small knife.) Cut the pumpkin or squash in half, and scoop out the seeds. Slice each half into 1/2-3/4 inch wide slices, then cut the slices into 1/2-3?/4 inch segments. They don't all have to be perfect squares, but taking the time to make the pieces as uniform as possible will pay off in the end!
-Dice the pancetta into 1/8-1/4 inch pieces
-Toss the pumpkin/squash and pancetta with the olive oil. If you are using pancetta, only use 1 Tablespoon of olive oil because there is a lot of fat in the pancetta. If you are not using pancetta, use 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
-Arrange pumpkin/squash in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Add a small sprinkle of salt if you're using pancetta or a big sprinkle of salt if you're not using pancetta.
-Broil the pumpkin/squash on high in the top third of the oven until it is sizzling and has dark brown spots. Stir it once or twice to get more even browning. The timing for this is going to be different depending on the moisture content in your pumpkin/squash and on how your oven works, and it can burn very quickly, so you're going to need to keep a close eye on it and do what works with your oven. In mine it was about 10 minutes for the initial broil, then another 5 minutes after I stirred it. Your pumpkin/squash will get pretty soft, but you don't need to worry about it cooking through. This step is all about reducing water content so it doesn't make your pastry soggy and adding flavor.
-Remove from the oven and set aside at room temperature until you're ready to assemble your pasties.
Caramelized Onion Filling
-Cut the tops and bottoms off the onions, then cut it in half from top to bottom. Peel all the thinner and papery layers off, and throw them away. Place the onions cut side down. Cut them in quarters from top to bottom again, then cut 1/8-1/4 inch slices 90 degrees from the first cut.
-Melt butter in a skillet or other pan with a wide bottom over medium heat. (It's easier if it's a non stick pan, but it doesn't have to be). Add onions to the melted butter and a light sprinkling of salt.
-Cook the onions and butter over medium or medium low heat, stirring every few minutes, until they give up their moisture and are fairly uniformly dark golden brown. If you are not using a non stick pan, you will need to make sure to aggressively scrape the browned parts off the bottom of the pan or they will burn. If you are doing this correctly, it will take a while. Be prepared to invest 30-45 minutes into slowly cooking your onions to soft, golden perfection. If you cook them too quickly they will burn on the outside before the moisture on the inside has evaporated enough to keep your pastry from getting soggy.
-Measure your white wine or broth and seasonings while the onions are cooking and set them aside.
-Add your seasonings and then quickly add the white wine or broth. It should bubble fiercely. Stir and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the onions look glossy and glazed.
-Remove from heat and let rest at room temperature until you're ready to assemble your pasties.
More Prep
Prepare your goat cheese by slicing or crumbling as you prefer and setting it aside in a bowl.
Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or silpat mats and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare 1 batch of hot water pastry.
Another note: I tried the traditional Montana pasty shape (square-ish parcels with all the edges tucked underneath) with this recipe, but I thought the thick layer of pastry on the bottom didn't work with the delicate vegetable and cheese filling as well as it does with our traditional hearty beef and potato filling. I'll describe my alternate shaping technique below, but feel free to use your preferred pasty shaping technique or research and use other traditional methods. If you do something different, tell me about it in the comments because I want to hear all about it!
-Divide your hot water pastry into 2-3 portions depending on how big your work area for rolling it out is. Cover any pieces you're not working with while they're waiting for their turn.
-Roll out hot water pastry one segment of a time using minimal additional flour. It shouldn't stick very much because of the high oil content. The goal is to make sure your crust is thin enough to not overwhelm the pasty but thick enough to hold it all together. I think mine was about 3-5 mm thick.
-Cut the pastry into 6 inch circles with a cutter or by tracing a bowl or template with a knife. Set the scrap pastry aside.
-Layer pumpkin/squash filling, onion filling, and crumbles of goat cheese to taste on half of the pastry circles, leaving about 1/2 inch of empty space on the curved side. I use my hands (and wash them a lot) and eyeball how much I want on each one, but I'm sure there is a way of measuring it all out evenly and scooping it. I would guess I use 1/3-1/2 cup total of filling for each pasty. You want to need to stretch your pastry very slightly over the filling but not so much it rips.
-Fold the empty half of pastry over filled half of the pastry, press the edges together and crimp or seal as you prefer.
-Place shaped pasties in rows on prepared baking sheets. You don't need to leave much space between them as they should not expand while baking.
-Repeat with remaining hot water pastry until you run out of filling ingredients. You can press the scraps together and re-roll them if you need to, but the pasties made with them will be just a little tougher. I usually get about 16-20 pasties from this recipe.
-Bake the pasties at 370 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes until they are light brown and firm on top.
-Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack to prevent soggy bottoms. Serve warm or cold!
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