Lunch fix: Puff pasties

Saturday lunchtimes are a frenzied affair. Sam has swimming and we usually all go for a dip while he has his lesson. So when we get back we’re normally starving hungry and just empty the contents of the fridge onto the kitchen table with a crusty loaf of bread and get stuck in to a DIY lunch.

This weekend I stayed home to carve out a bit of peace, declutter and make marmalade. I got so absorbed in what I was doing it was midday before I knew it, so I quickly threw together some pasties before the boys were banging down the door.

My old friend the packet of ready-rolled puff pastry came out to play. What a marvellous invention.

I made a child-friendly pasty of passata and mozzarella for the boys, and a blue cheese and caramelised onion version for Matthew and I.

I’d got a MASSIVE wedge of stilton in the fridge as part of a Gourmet Christmas delivery box from Forman and Field via Knorr UK. I’ve donated the HUGE turkey to Arlo’s playgroup’s Christmas Raffle, but couldn’t resist the cheese.

Caramelised onions take ages to cook, so I’ve substituted them in the below recipe with a dollop or two of onion marmalade or your favourite chutney.

I served the filled pastries up with a big salad of leftover bits and pieces from the fridge.

Puff pasties
Serves two adults and two children

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
a little milk or beaten egg to glaze

filling 1
2 tbsp passata
handful grated mozzarella cheese

filling 2
2 tbsp onion marmalade/chutney
blue cheese

1. Unroll the pastry sheet on a board, keeping it on top of its protective plastic sheet. Score it in half horizontally with a knife and then divide into six equal squares.

2. Score out 3-4 small windows on one half of a square portion, this will prevent the filling from getting too hot and bursting out of your pasties. It may just bubble up a bit.

3. On the other side of each square spread with the passata or chutney and then top with grated/crumbled cheese.

4. Brush the inside edges with a little milk and then fold the squares over so the two halves meet. Press down to seal with your fingers and then crimp the edges with a fork.

5. Transfer the pasties onto a lightly oiled baking sheet and then brush them with a little milk or beaten egg and bake for 20 mins until golden and puffed up. Serve with a big salad.

Tip: Make them smaller and they’d make great canapes for grown ups or party snacks for little people.