Turkey in a Pie
Turkey in a Pie
by James Norton
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Much as the stuffing waffle is a gateway to sweeping up some or all of your leftovers into one semi-tidy, thematically organized meal, the venerable pasty - AKA the empanada, AKA the lihapiirakka, AKA any number of other names from any number of different cultures - is a convenient bucket with which to make multiple forms of leftover food disappear only to be reborn in a novel format.
As written, this recipe has some firm ideas about vegetables, based on some traditional pasty favorites, but you can and should mess around with whatever you have on hand. Maybe that's cooked carrots; maybe it's mashed potatoes; hell, maybe it's cranberry sauce. Any of these things, so long as you're not getting your mixture too wet, are plausible and very much welcome, and playing around is part of the fun. Ultimately: Your crust will cook, and warm through all your delightful filling elements. This is definitely part of the "horseshoes and hand grenades" family of recipes - improvisation is welcome and usually rewarded.
PASTIES
Makes about six
5 Cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 Cup fat (two sticks of butter for example; 2:3 Crisco:butter would work; but we've also used duck fat with great results)
⅓-½ Cups milk
1 ½ lb cooked turkey meat, chopped roughly
1 - 1 1/2 pounds of rutabagas, peeled and diced
3 large potatoes, about 2-3#, peeled and diced
1 large onion diced
1 Cup green peas
3 eggs, beaten for egg wash
Preheat oven to 400˚F.
Combine the dry dough ingredients in a large bowl. Break up the fat in between your fingers and toss the pieces in the bowl to coat them thoroughly with flour. Incorporate fat until the mixture becomes grainy. Add just enough milk to make dough into a cohesive mass. Knead lightly. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Season the turkey with salt and pepper to taste.
Brown the vegetables in a skillet with oil or butter and season to taste. Get them al dente - starting to get tender, technically edible, but not thoroughly cooked through.
Roll out the pasty dough to about ⅛”. Use a medium-sized saucer to cut out rounds with a knife.
Wet the outer rim of a dough circle with the egg wash. Drop meat and vegetables onto the center.
Pull up the sides of the dough circle to meet on top of the filling. Pinch the edges together to form a crimped seal. Using a knife, cut slits into the top of the pasty to allow steam to escape during baking.
Brush the egg wash over the pasty.
Repeat until finished with dough and filling.
Bake for 30-45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Serve with ketchup, mustard, gravy, chili, cornichons, and so forth.