It’s coming to the end of the year soon. Which also means that it is going to be Christmas soon. (Yippee!)
This time of the year usually calls for a round of stocktaking in the kitchen, to see if there are many condiments remaining in the cupboard to be used for my December recipes. Already, I’ve had to dispose of two bags of flour because they are starting to see some insects growing in it and some bottles of food colouring that have long expired (sobs). I still have some cans of food to be opened, some Thai tea leaves to be brewed, some flour to be baked, some gold leaf sheets to be decorated – all ideally before the end of the year, but if not in the early parts of next year. It’s going to be another busy end of the year ahead! There are already ideas forming in my mind about what I can have for lunch in the next few weeks and what we could have for snacks and desserts (gingerbread, panna cotta) for Christmas too.
Christmas always reminds me of traditional food prepared during medieval times, which makes me so glad to have brought Maggie Blacks’ book of medieval recipes back home with me ten years ago. The recipes have sprung quite many surprises on me thus far, some being very similar to the tastebuds of contemporary communities, while others have a more distinct and unique taste of days gone by.
This recipe on mushroom pasty has traditional vibes, both in its taste and outlook, which makes it a great dish to have to celebrate the Christmas season. I’m sure you will fall in love with it as much as I did!
Ingredients:
- Shortcrust pastry: 450g
- Button mushroom: 500g, bottoms removed, thinly sliced
- Salt: 1/3 tsp
- Cheddar cheese: 50g, grated
- Thyme leaf: 5 stalks
- Mustard powder: 1/2 tsp
- Nutmeg: a pinch, grated
- Ground blackpepper: a pinch
- Egg: 1, beaten
Method:
- Roll out 2/3 of shortcrust pastry. Line baking pan with the pastry. Chill in fridge till filling is ready.
- Preheat oven at 20o degrees Celsius.
- Scald mushrooms in salted boiling water quickly. Remove and pat dry.
- Combine mushrooms with salt, cheese, thyme leaves, mustard powder, nutmeg & blackpepper.
- Fill pastry case with mushroom filling.
- Roll out remaining shortcrust pastry to form the lid of pastry. Decorate the lid with remainig trimmings.
- Brush with egg to seal the lid and to glaze the lid. Make a small X-cut in the centre of the lid.
- Bake 20min till golden brown.
Trick:
-
Feel free to explore using other types of mushroom for this recipe. As long as you are using fresh mushrooms, having just one type or a mixture would make the pasty taste really good!
Disclaimers:
-
This recipe was kindly adapted from ‘The Medieval Cookbook’ by Maggie Black.
-
The original recipe did not have herbs and pepper. I included it to make the recipe tastier and more flavourful.
Serving:
1 whole pastry pie (about 8 slices)
