I’ve been wondering for ages what I’d choose for this week’s Cakes & Bakes recipe. You see, it’s Sourdough September and I wanted to make something more than a just a plain sourdough loaf. I’ve come up with a mushroom pasty recipe using sourdough pastry.
I only feed my sourdough starter in the summer months – our old, stone house just isn’t conducive to developing the warmth-loving wild yeasts for much of the year. When the temperature drops and the wood-burning stove needs to be sparked up, I store a small batch of starter in the freezer to revive again the following year.
This sourdough pastry recipe is very similar to plain shortcrust pastry but the taste is so much better – and it’s more buttery and flakier too.
I’m sure some Cornish people and other pasty aficionados will be up in arms with my mushroom pasty recipe. However, I’m vegetarian and a meat pasty isn’t tempting. I used Rustica mushrooms. However, you can use any kind – button, woodland, chestnut, wild… add a handful of garden peas if it takes your fancy. I used Maris Piper potatoes, but as with the mushrooms, it’s down to personal preference or what’s to hand. Also, a bit of onion, garlic and fresh thyme.
We have some 20cm/8-inch starter plates that are the perfect diameter for a pasty pastry cutter. Just roll out the pastry, place a plate on the top and cut around it with the tip of a sharp, pointy knife.
I picked up a(nother!) tip from Nadiya Hussain for making pasties. Use the tip of the self-same knife – this time, the un-sharp side of the blade – to just gently push the pastry inwards at 1cm intervals to crimp.
The recipe made 6 pasties; I cooked off half of them for immediate consumption – and put the other three into the freezer for a later date. They were truly delicious. Justin and I agree that this pastry is one of the best – if not THE best I’ve ever made – and the simple combination of flavours in the filling worked brilliantly too.
Click here to save this mushroom pasty recipe to Pinterest for later.
- 185g/6½oz plain flour
- 1tsp salt
- 225g/8oz very cold butter, cubed
- 225g/8oz cold sourdough starter
- a little beaten egg to glaze
- 250g/9oz potatoes, cubed
- 30g/1oz butter
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 250g/9oz mushrooms, sliced
- sprig of thyme
- salt & ground black pepper to taste
- Sieve the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor
- Scatter the cold, cubed butter over the top of the flour mixture and pulse a few times until the butter breaks up into small chunks
- Spread the sourdough starter over the top of the flour/butter mixture
- Pulse again until the mixture just starts to clump together a bit, but is still crumbly. The dough should feel like it will stay together if you pinch it with your fingers
- Lay out two strips of cling film at right angles to each other and empty the pastry mixture into the middle
- Bring the mixture together using the lengths of cling until it just about comes together into a ball. Quickly flatten the ball into a round, wrap and chill for an hour in the fridge
- In a medium-sized saucepan, just cover the potatoes with cold, salted water and bring to the boil for 5 minutes
- Using a colander, strain the water away
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat
- Add the onions and garlic and sweat until they're soft but not browned
- Add the mushrooms, thyme and salt & pepper and continue to sweat until the mushrooms have softened
- Strain any liquid away (or you can reserve this to make a mushroom sauce using a dash of cream)
- Mix the potatoes into the mushrooms until well combined
- Set the mixture aside to cool
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Divide the pastry into 6 equal pieces. Put five back into the fridge to keep cool while you make the first pasty
- Form the pastry piece into a round and roll out on a floured work surface
- Place a side plate on to the pastry and cut out a circle
- Spoon some of the cooled mushroom filling into the centre of the pastry
- Brush around the edge of the circle with water, carefully fold the pastry over into a semi-circle - keeping the filling away from the edge
- Gently press the edges of pastry together before crimping
- Repeat this process until you have used all the pastry and filling
- Put the pasties on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with a little beaten egg
- Bake for 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before eating
Mushroom pâté
A few weeks ago on Instagram, I was singing the praises of a delicious porcini mushroom pâté that I’d discovered in Lidl.
We had a punnet of mushrooms that needed to be used up, so I thought I might try my hand at making my own pâté.
I flipped through a few of our cookbooks for a recipe and soon found one in a little booklet supplement that came with the Guardian weekend newspaper, many moons ago.
It was a taster from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Mushrooms: River Cottage Handbook No.1.
I altered the recipe slightly, substituting the butter and garlic for 50 grams of wild garlic butter that I whipped up the previous week.
Mushroom pâté is a very simple and easy to make recipe.
You can use foraged wild mushrooms (so long as you’re absolutely sure they’re not a poisonous variety). Dried mushrooms such as porcini, chanterelle, morel or a mixture; chestnut or just plain ol’ closed cup white mushrooms.
Mushroom pâté
Ingredients
- 250 g/9oz mushrooms
- 30 g/1oz butter
- 3-4 garlic cloves peeled & crushed
- 250 g/9oz cream cheese
- sea salt & cracked black pepper to season
Instructions
- Clean and trim the mushrooms before slicing thinly
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until softened stirring to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan
- Cook until the liquid released by the mushrooms all but evaporates (10-15 minutes)
- Allow to cool before spooning into a mini-food processor and blitzing for 20-30 seconds
- Add the cream cheese to the food processor and blitz again until well combined
- Season with sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste
- Decant into sterilised jars and refrigerate. Once opened, consume within 7 days
Delicious slathered over freshly-baked ciabatta!Cakes & Bakes: Mushroom and broccoli quiche
It’s been a while since our Cakes & Bakes series featured something savoury – it’s been very cake-heavy of late! In order to redress the balance, here’s a very easy-to-make and very tasty mushroom and broccoli quiche.
You can buy a range of quiches quite cheaply in any supermarket – but you just can’t beat a home-made, straight-out-of-the-oven version though! Pair it with a side salad for a healthy, hearty afternoon meal.
Mushroom and broccoli quiche
Ingredients
- For the pastry
- 110 g/4oz plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 50 g/2oz Stork or other margarine cubed
- 2 tbs cold water
- For the filling
- 25 g/1oz butter
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 8 closed cup or chestnut mushrooms chopped
- 2-4 stems of tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli depending on length
- 2 large eggs
- 275 ml/½pint double cream
- sea salt & freshly milled pepper to taste we swear by Bart Bristol Five Blend peppercorns
- 75 g hard cheese such as mature cheddar or Gruyère grated
Instructions
- Sift the flour & pinch of salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl
- Add the cubes of Stork gently rubbing them into the flour until it resembles crumbly breadcrumbs
- Sprinkly over the cold water, 1tbs at a time bringing together the mixture with your hands until it forms a smooth ball of dough and the bowl is clean
- If it's still a bit crumbly you may need a few more drops of water. Be careful not to add too much
- Wrap the ball of dough in cling film (Saran wrap) and refrigerate for at least half an hour
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Once chilled, roll out the dough into a circular shape (with a circumference slightly larger than the dish)
- Carefully ease the rolled out pastry over the top of a flan dish or shallow tin. Press the pastry into the sides and base of the dish.
- Prick the base all over with a fork or skewer
- Bake the empty pastry base for 15-20 minutes
- Remove from the oven while you prepare the filling
- Heat the butter in a medium-sized saucepan on a low heat and soften the onions in it for a few minutes
- Stir in the chopped mushrooms and cook for half and hour or so, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated
- Using a slotted spoon, evenly put the onion & mushroom mix on the pre-baked quiche base and lay the spears of broccoli on top
- In a measuring jug or similar, whisk the eggs together thoroughly before adding the cream and whisking again. Season with salt & pepper before pouring over the tart filling
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the centre is set and the cheese nicely browned
Gimee Five: Exotic mushrooms
It’s getting to that time of year when wild mushrooms start to appear. A lovely free meal if you know what you’re picking!
Exotic mushrooms taste delicious in all kinds of pasta & rice dishes – or thrown into a simple omelette. Foraging isn’t possible for everyone though – so here are five kits that offer a convenient & safe option.