Meat Free Monday

We don't often eat pies or pasties as shop bought ones are very high in fat and I like to watch what we eat, but there are a lot of Greggs bakers in Birmingham and every time we passed one we got the urge for a pasty, so as it was Meat Free Monday I decided to make vegetable pasties for dinner.

Veggie Pasties - makes 4
1 packet ready rolled puff pastry
3 tablespoons green lentils
1 medium potato, cut into 1cm cubes (you can use a left over boiled potato)
1 medium sized carrot, grated
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green peas, defrosted if frozen
2 teaspoons ginger/garlic paste (from Asian section of supermarket) or use 1 clove garlic and some grated fresh ginger
salt & pepper

First cook the lentils according to the packet instructions, or alternatively you can use tinned green lentils.

Cook the potato and onion in just enough water to cover them for 5 mins. then drain well.
Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, carrots, peas and ginger/garlic paste, Add salt and pepper to taste.

Unwrap the pastry and roll out to make it just a little thinner, then cut into 4.
Put some of the mixture onto each piece of pastry, brush the edges with water, fold over and crimp with the back of a fork to seal well. You can make a pattern in the pastry by lightly scoring it with a knife, but you also need to make a hole in the centre to let the steam out so the pastry stays crisp.

Place on a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet, putting the edges to the centre then if any of the pasties leak the filling stays in the centre rather than going over the edge of the tray and making a mess of your oven.

Bake for 30mins. Gas 6-7  till the pastry is golden brown, puffed up and crispy.

These are also good cold for lunch next day.

Enjoy!