Go Back
Print
Originally a Cornish coal miner's meal, pasties are a hearty anytime meal, lunch or dinner, camp or home - freeze a bunch up and you are good to go.

Venison Pasty

A traditional pasty is filled with all raw ingredients, which are then cooked in the crust. Venison was also a traditional filling, and what we're going to use is cubed up chuck - specifically, I like to use a neck roast. Now, if you've cooked enough venison, you know that a neck roast isn't something something you cook for a short time. In this case, I think the tradition of cooking all raw ingredients in the crust was more about convenience. Convenient doesn't always mean good. So, with this recipe, we'll braise the meat for a while before we stuff it in the crust for a final cooking.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Venison pasty
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 35 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 55 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 1 kcal

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 3 cups of flour
  • 1½ teaspoons of salt
  • ¾ teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1 cup of lard or shortening I used beef tallow because I happened to have it. And I recommend it if you can get it!
  • ¾ cup of ice water

Pasty:

  • 2½-3 lbs of venison chuck - cubed to ½"
  • 1 large onion - diced
  • 3 medium carrots - diced
  • 2 medium potatoes - diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic diced
  • 1½ cups of red wine
  • 1½ cups of stock I used venison stock, but any will do
  • 1 tablespoon of rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon of thyme
  • salt & pepper
  • olive oil
  • milk

Instructions

  1. Salt and pepper your cubed venison to taste. 

  2. Preheat the oven to 250°. 

  3. Brown the venison in a dutch oven or similar vessel in oil on the stovetop. 

  4. Add the red wine and stock. Transfer to the oven and let it braise for about 4 hours.

  5. Chop your vegetables up. Place them in a bowl, and mix in the rosemary, thyme, and a little olive oil, and mix it all together. Toss it in the fridge.
  6. Make your crust. If you want, just buy some pre-made. I won't judge you. I do it. But it IS easy to make - and this recipe is heavier and more durable than a typical pastry crust, yet still light and flaky. In other words, perfect for a pasty.

  7. Mix your dry crust ingredients together. Cut in the lard/shortening with a pastry blender. If you don't have one, get one! They are cheap and make this job incredibly easier.

  8. Once the mixture starts to resemble coarse crumbles, add ice water till it gets doughy. If it won't hold together, add a little more water, but try to keep it to a minimum. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and toss it in the fridge too.
  9. Cook the venison for about 4 hours, or till it's nice and tender, then shred it with a fork. Cook the vegetables in a skillet till they are tender, and mix them with the venison. Pop it back in the oven for a bit while you get your dough rolled out.
  10. Split the dough into about 6 equal portions. Roll them out into 8-9" circles. You can make them up one at a time.
  11. Bump the oven up to 400º.
  12. Spoon the pasty filling into the middle - make sure to add in some of the liquid. Moisten the edge of the crust with water and fold it in half and crimp the edges. I like to then fold the edges over AGAIN and re-crimp - may be overkill, but it helps to keep them sealed while they cook.
  13. Brush the tops with milk, then bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the crust is a nice golden brown. Your filling is cooked, so focus on the crust here.

Recipe Notes

If you have any juice left from the filling mix, serve it on the side - it makes an excellent dipping gravy. As does some sour cream. Freeze what you don't eat, and reheat them in the microwave or oven for an easy meal any time. One last thing: I always have some filling left over. The pasty filling from this recipe makes one of the best roast meat sandwiches I've ever had - you may want to set some aside just to try it...