Chicken & chick pea masala pasties

Chicken & chick pea masala pasties are always a hit with all my family, and since getting the hang of making my own puff pastry I'll happily whip up a batch at any given chance, so handing them out to friends as well as family during ramadhan was the perfect excuse to indulge in batch loafs

So here's the recipe if you'd like to give them a go.

To make a batch of 6 -8 pasties you will need
1 batch of my home made puff pastry or 2 sheets of ready roll pastry and 1 batch of my chicken & chickpea masala

• Start by ensuring your block of pastry is chilled & cold but not rock solid. Cut the block in half, put one half to a side or back in the fridge till later use.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the block out to a large square, to about an inch thick. Cut the large square into 4 equal peices. If you're using the ready rolled sheets just cut both sheets into 4 equal squares.

• Taking one of the squares, fold it in half lightly and open it up. Use the line through the middle as a guide for the middle of the pastie

• Take 2 -3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture and place in the middle of the square. Brush the bottom edge and sides with a little bit of egg wash, and fold the top half of the sqaure over the filling, ensuring all 3 edges meet as neatly as possible

• Pierce 2 sets of holes in the top of the pastie using a fork - this will help the steam escape during cooking. Seal all the edges by gently pressing them with a fork.

• Repeat the above process with the remaining squares and the remaining pastry dough. Place the pasties on greasproof lined baking trays, brush the tops of each pastie with egg wash  and bake in a fan assisted oven at 180c for
20 -25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown & serve 

*** if you have any filling remaining, and run out of pastry dough,  you can freeze the filling & save it for another time. Ensure that any filling you defrost is used uo completely as you cannot re freeze thawed meat***

Team Strawberry

Continuing with my Team Apple VS Team Strawberry, here is my recipe for Strawberry turnovers :

 For 16 turnovers you will need :

1 punnet of strawberries chopped into chunks
4-5 tbsp strawberry jam
2 tbs corn flour 
2 tbsp water
1 egg whisked
1 tbsp caster sugar 
320ml double cream 
1 tsp vanilla paste / seeds from vanilla pod
icing sugar to dust

• Preheat your oven to 180c, place the strawberries, sugar and the jam in a saucepan. Mix together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water to make a smooth paste and add to the saucepan Cook the strawberries on a medium heat, till they've slightly softened and the jam has thickened a little - it should take about 10-12 minutes. 
• Line a large rectangle baking tray with baking paper, and open out the pastry sheet. Cut the sheet of pastry into 16 equal rectangles*
• Brush each of the rectangles with the beaten egg and place the pastry in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the each of the sheets has risen and are golden brown on top. Leave to cool completely then cut each rectangle in half, straight through the middle- so you'll end up with 16 top halves and 16 bottom halves
• Whip the double cream with the vanilla paste till you get semi stiff peaks - when you pick it up with a tablespoon it shouldn't drip off and should just hold its shape.
• On each of the bottom halves of pastry, place about 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream, then put about a tablespoon full of the strawberry mixture on top of each slice. Then place the top halves of pastry back on to each slice, and finish off with a good dusting of icing sugar and they're ready to serve 

* if you don't want to make as many as 16 .. use just half the sheet instead of the whole sheet and cut into 8 rectangles .. and save the other half by wrapping up and placing in the freezer as i used my pastry as soon s i'd bought it and it wasn't already frozen

Team Strawberry or Team Apple ?

So are you team strawberry or team apple when it comes to the turnover variety ? I have to say I cant choose between them so to trial a recipe I cast a vote on Facebook and the winner by just one vote was Apple... So off I went on a virtual hunt to get inspiration for my own take on apple turnovers and this recipe is what i came up with.. You can find the Strawberry recipe here



To make 16 turnovers you will need:

3 Granny Smith / Bramley apples - peeled, cored & chopped
2 tbsp butter
300g soft brown sugar
1 -1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp water
160 ml double cream
1 egg - whisked
1 ready rolled puff pastry sheet* 
icing sugar to dust 

• Preheat your oven to 180c and start making the apple filling. Peel, core and chop the apples into chunks. Put the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in a saucepan. 
• Mix together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water to make a smooth paste and add to the saucepan 
• Cook the apples on a medium heat, till they've softened, but don't let them mush and you have a thick sauce formed from the butter and sugar** - I found it took about 20 minutes. Set the mixture aside and leave to cool completely 
• Line a large rectangle baking tray with baking paper, and open out the pastry sheet. Cut the sheet of pastry into 16 equal rectangles***
• Brush each of the rectangles with the beaten egg and place the pastry in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the each of the sheets has risen and are golden brown on top. Leave to cool completely then cut each rectangle in half, straight through the middle- so you'll end up with 16 top halves and 16 bottom halves
• Whip the double cream till you get semi stiff peaks - when you pick it up with a tablespoon it shouldn't drip off and should just hold its shape.
• On each of the bottom halves of pastry, place about 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream, then put about a tablespoon full of the apple mixture on top of each slice. Then place the top halves of pastry back on to each slice, and finish off with a good dusting of icing sugar and they're ready to serve 

* I use the Jus Rol ready rolled out sheets

** it should be about the consistency of apple pie filling

** if you don't want to make as many as 16 .. use just half the sheet instead of the whole sheet and cut into 8 rectangles .. and save the other half by wrapping up and placing in the freezer as i used my pastry as soon s i'd bought it and it wasn't already frozen