Beef Pasties

These Beef and Vegetable Hand Pies are a nod to Montana’s mining history — hearty, handheld meals that kept miners fueled through long days. Shared by community contributor Jon Bennion (@IntermediateChef), they’re filled with ranch-raised beef, potatoes, and carrots wrapped in golden pastry. Simple, filling, and timeless.

Recipe & photography courtesy of community contributor Jon Bennion (@intermediatechef) explains the pasty in this week's blog, and provides a delicious beef and root vegetable comfort food recipe for us all to try.

Beef and Vegetable Hand Pies are a traditional beef and root vegetable from Cornwall, England. In Montana, they are practically a sacred meal for those from Butte - a mining town that drew immigrants from all over the world over a hundred years ago. Miners took these delicious pies down with them in the underground copper mines and filled up mid-day with a hearty meal so they could continue their work.

The essentials of beef hand pies are quite simple when you look at old Cornish recipes. A crispy and simple crust, a tender cut of beef, potatoes and rutabaga. We had our good friend @intermediatechef, a local Montanan, provide his own recipe that brings a few more tasty elements to the pasty party. He recently made these for a group of his friends when they dined outdoors in the cold Montana winter for a “pandemic pasty party.” Him and his family are great Felton Angus Beef customers, and he gladly shared his recipe so you can have your own pasty party this winter.

This recipe for beef hand pies makes 8 pasties.

INGREDIENTS:

For the pasty crust:

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 4 ounces butter
• 5 to 6 tbsp ice water

For the pasty filling:

• 1 cup cubed Felton Angus Beef sirloin or New York Strip
• 1 cup potato (1/4-inch dice)
• 1/2 cup rutabaga (1/4 inch dice)
• 1/2 cup carrot (1/8 inch dice)
• 1/2 cup shallot or onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon mince fresh thyme
• Generous salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

• 1 egg (lightly beaten)

DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the crust, cube cold butter and put in a good processor with the flour and salt. Pulse until it combines and looks like coarse corn meal. Add up to six tablespoons of water through the funnel and pulse a few more times until a dough ball forms. Remove the dough and place in Saran Wrap in the fridge for an hour.
2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Remove your dough from the fridge and cut into 8 equal parts. With a rolling pin an extra flour, roll them into circles of about 6-7 inches round.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients and season well. Evenly divide the filing into the eight crusts being careful to not overfill. With the beaten egg, lightly brush the edges of the crust. Fold the circles in half and bring the edges together. Crimp the edges by pulling the bottom crust over the top and pinching together.
4. Place the pasties on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the remaining egg wash on the crusts. Bake for 45 minutes until they are a nice golden brown and all the filling contents are soft.
5. Serve with a savory, flavorful beef gravy on the side.

DOWNLOAD RECIPE FOR BEEF PASTIES

Jon Bennion is a Montana lawyer by day, but a home chef (@intermediatechef) and wood-carver (@bennionlumber) in his spare time. He lives in Clancy with his wife, Jessi, and son, Jack.