Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

(Never tickle a sleeping dragon)

"Will you stop eating? Your best friend is missing!"

Harry Potter movies (2001 - 2011)

Pumpkin pasties

Experiencing life in a British boarding school can change your life for ever. Attending some schools will almost guarantee that you come into close contact with future politicians and captains of industry. Other aspects of boarding school life might also mean by keeping a diary and a few judicious photos you may never need to work again!

Hogwarts has obviously modelled itself on the Muggle world’s finest institutions. A house system, Latin mottoes, prefects and the snake in the showers are not unique to the wizarding world. However, magic aside, there is one huge difference between Hogwarts and St Thwackems. Food! Despite Fleur Delacour’s complaints about the weight of the Hogwarts menu, (stews, rock cakes, roasts and treacle tart) at least she didn’t have to face the wrath of the spam fritter or spotted dick.

Harry and his cohort are able to stuff themselves stupid and by some miracle also seem to stay relatively trim and tooth ache free. Despite being enchanted by the idea of butter beer (legal alcohol at school!) and lusting after a chocolate frog I have decided to make pumpkin pasties, a favourite snack on any Hogwarts Express journey. As I had purple potatoes in at home I used those to give a good colour contrast against the orange of the squash.

(A word of warning to any Americans reading – these are savoury pasties very similar to Cornish Pasties found in the UK and not sweet like pumpkin pie)

Mise en scene

500g all butter puff pastry

300g butternut squash finely diced

300g potato (purple majesty for preference) finely diced

1 onion finely diced

Salt

Pepper

1 egg beaten (hens preferably – never be tempted by Dragons or Hippogriffs)

It’s all in the edit...

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
2. Chop the potato, squash and onion very finely. This is vital as it is not precooked before putting in the pastry and baking in the oven. Place in a bowl and season well with salt and plenty of black pepper.
3. Roll the pastry out to the thickness of a pound coin. Using a bowl as a template cut out 6” circles of pastry. Run a little egg wash around the edge of the dough and fill with 2 or 3 spoons of the mix. Don’t overfill.
4. Seal and crimp the edges of each pasty. Do this with care as the steam inside the pasty as it cooks will help the filling to cook through.
5. Place on a baking sheet and egg wash the top of each pasty.
6. Pop into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, turn the oven down to 175C and bake for a further half an hour.
7. Leave to cool and serve at room temperature. If they have gone cold you could reheat by using the spell “tepidus pie”. Those without magical powers could just pop in the oven for a 5 mins to warm through!

Hint and tip

These pasties are perfectly tasty but the addition of fresh thyme will make them even more so. For those who still can’t get over pumpkin and pastry being a savoury dish and sweet version will follow soon as I am very fond of Pumpkin pie myself.