Pasties
PASTIES...YUM!
Although our heritage is pies, we would probably say our hero product is one of our pasties...the Steak Pasty.
We first started making and baking our pies in a small unit in Ottery St.Mary in 2007….and it was a natural move for us to start making pasties, so we did!
It wasn’t tricky to find some locals who could crimp, and with a very small team of 3 our pasty making began.
They soon proved pretty popular and our customer base for pasties began to grow.
Among our very first customers were Darts Farm, Topsham and K&M Butchers in Ottery - and both are still Chunk stockists.
We were extremely proud to become Exeter Chiefs pasty of choice over six years ago, with the Chiefs Giant Pasty sold from the Chunk grass covered trailer at Sandy Park at all Chiefs matches and being enjoyed by 1,000’s of rugby fans, players and TV rugby commentators alike.
But these pasties really hit the headlines in 2009 when this humble steak pasty wowed the judges at both the British Pie Awards in 2009 winning BEST pasty - beating our Cornish cousins….!!
The 2009 Awards did spark a fair amount of controversy and we gained a fair amount of press, with Simon giving numerous interviews to both TV and the newspapers!
Since then this awesome pasty has also won a second🥇 Best Pasty Award in 2019, beating not only the Cornish but makers of pasties from all over the country, PLUS 10 back to back Great Taste Awards - which we understand no other product has achieved!
Needless to say we are super proud of the recipe and the team for this amazing achievement.
We’d like to say it’s all down to our ‘Special Chunk ingredient’ ...but no - the way we make our pasties is just as you would at home - which is probably the secret...!
Using a traditional shortcrust recipe, the meat pasties all have a lard in the pastry and our veggie pasties butter, whilst our vegan pasties (and pies) we use vegetable alternatives, suitable for vegans and approved as vegan by the Vegetarian Society.🌱
👉🏻 Pasties are pretty easy to make and hugely satisfying to eat - why not try making your own, or even easier - just order some from us!
The Chunk of Devon secret to making Award Winning Pasties
This recipe will make enough for 5 - 6 medium sized pasties
The Pastry – cold is the word!
- cold lard and butter, cold water, cold bowl.... cold hands!
- 400g flour
- 100g butter
- 100g lard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Water! 100ml
Blitz the flour, salt and fats for 15 -20 seconds in a processor to make ‘breadcrumbs’.
Gently add in 100ml of cold water (you may not need all the water) to this and mix to bring
together to form your dough.
Remove from the bowl massage into a ball.
Put this into a cold fridge to let it rest.
Whilst you prepare...
The Filling
.
Beef Skirt. Butchers is best - but you can also find it in the supermarket.
- 250g Beef Skirt cut into small strips or chunks
- 250g Potato, lightly peeled and diced - or just give them a good scrub - the goodness is in the skin which has more nutrients than the spud itself.
- 150g Swede (turnip same thing 😉) diced
- 150g Onion diced or rough chopped
- Seasoning :-
- Salt 1 tsp
- Black pepper ½-1 tsp
- Beef stock 10g (1 cube)
Mix all together
with your hands so the seasonings are mixed through thoroughly. Then you’re ready to make your pasty!
Take pastry out of the fridge and divide into 5 - 6 even lumps. Roll out to size of a large tea plate or small
dinner plate. Fill evenly with mix and CRIMP. (you may need to wet the edge).
The style crimp is your call - but make sure the pastry is sealed.
Then glaze with egg or milk...
Bake in an oven 180˚for 45mins - let them cool before a little eating.
If you want to vary the filling, replace the beef with pork or chicken - it really is up to you...but the golden rule is a third of meat to veg, so go ahead - have fun!
If you need a little crimping help - checkout out our the video "How to Crimp..."
