Jack Rendulich
A Passion for Pasties
Pasties are now more popular than ever in the upper reaches of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Here are two favorite recipes, which you can easily customize with your own choice of fillings, from venison to veggie-only.
Marcella Norman’s Pasty
Courtesy Susie Nutkins
A Passion for Pasties
Even though she is Newberry, Michigan’s “Queen of Pasties,” Marcella Norman still plunges into pasty-making with the rest of the crew when preparing for a school fund-raising event.
Yields 21 pasties
Crust:
- 6 c. flour
- 1 c. Armour lard, at room temp.
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- 1 c. cool water
Use standard crust technique. Cut around a 9-inch pie tin for circles. Make this crust recipe twice, but do not double it. Each batch will yield 12-13 pasty crusts.
Filling:
- 4 lbs. ground pasty meat mix of beef and pork (more beef than pork, coarse grind)
- 16 c. cubed potatoes
- 2 c. (heaping) cubed carrots
- 2 c. chopped celery
- 1 c. onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. salt
- 1Tbsp. pepper
Combine and place one heaping cup of mixture on each pie crust. Fold over; crimp edge. Bake six pasties on a large cookie sheet at 350 degrees for one hour, turning pan halfway. This is the exact recipe used for Newberry, Michigan, fund-raisers. Marcella omits rutabagas, which she feels taste too strong.
Holy Spirit Church Pasties
Courtesy Jeanne Lamourea
A Passion for Pasties
Like pasty-forming worker bees, the crew from Holy Spirit Church in Virginia, Minnesota, busily prepares dozens of hand-held meals.
Yields 18 pasties
Dry Pastry Mix:
- 13 c. flour
- 3 c. lard (1-1/2 lbs). Cut in lard to size of peas.
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 2 Tbsp. salt
Dough:
- 9 c. Dry Pastry Mix
- 2-1/2 c. water. Add water to prepared pastry mix for 18 balls.
Filling for each pasty:
- 3/4 c. diced potato
- 1/2 c. diced carrot/rutabaga mix (2 parts carrots to 1 part rutabagas)
- 1/4 c. onion
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- dash pepper
- 1/2 c. ground meat mixture (2 parts beef to 1 part pork)
Make enough of each ingredient to fill your 18 pasty shells. Combine and place one heaping cup of mixture on each pie crust. Fold over; crimp edge. Bake six pasties on a large cookie sheet at 350 degrees for one hour, turning pan halfway.
(The grocery list for 1,400 pasties at a church fund-raiser, by the way, is: 250 pounds of beef, ground, with 120 pounds of pork, ground; 250 pounds of flour; 175 pounds of carrots; 60 pounds of rutabagas; 500 pounds of potatoes; and 135 pounds of onions.)