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Vegan Pasties with Leek and Caramelised Onion

January 3, 2018 by Alexandra Daum
Vegan pasties filled with leeks, caramelized onion, and green peas. Pasties are a traditional Cornish pastry recipe, with savoury filling enclosed in pastry. This vegan version uses a coconut oil spelt mix for the pastry and a very nontraditional filling that I imagine adamant traditionalists would frown at – it’s a modern, plant based interpretation!
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One half-moon pasty cut in half on a plate, with knife.

If you’re from Cornwall, I apologize for taking your famous dish and making it vegan. I had an idea in my mind of a vegan Cornish pasty and just couldn’t shake it. Even though I’ve never eaten a Cornish pasty, it’s been featured often enough on Bake Off that it seems familiar. Nadia, a winner of bake off, got in deep trouble for daring to add peas to the classic recipe, so I’m sure vegan pasties are rather worse.

The outer pocket is a coconut oil spelt pastry that’s much easier to make than regular butter pastry, I think. You just pop it in the food processor and let it do the work, and no worries about keeping everything ice cold. It’s not as flaky as butter pastry but it’s a bit flaky, and a lot crispy. Perfect for vegan pasties.

About the filling – I’ve chosen caramelised onions alongside leeks, peas, little white beans, and lemon, on top of a little hummus. I see several variations of this in my future (definitely mushrooms) but this is a great winter option using frozen peas with cold weather vegetables.

If you’re looking for another good vegan pastry recipe, check out my vegan holiday pie with hot water pastry.

Notes and Substitutions

The only trick is not to overfill the pasties so that you can close up the pocket, but you can always pull a bit of the filling out if need be.

If you don’t want the extra step of caramelising the onions, you can sauté them with the leeks instead. I encourage you to make a huge batch of caramelized onions and freeze the extras, though, because they’re a great addition to just about everything.

These freeze very well, and can be frozen before baking. Simply freeze on a parchment lined tray and, once frozen, transfer to an airtight container. Bake from frozen.

You can use a milk wash (for vegan) or egg wash (vegetarian) on the outside of the pasties, but it’s not about taste, just appearance. Adding an egg wash makes the pasties more golden, and not including it will result in a slightly lighter pastry.

More Caramelised Onion Recipes

Winter Pizza
Mushroom and Caramelised Onion Wreath
Potato Galette

A halved pasty on a small plate with knife.

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Yield: 6

Leek and Caramelized Onion Pasties

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Caramelized Onions 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
5 from 1 vote

Ingredients

Spelt Coconut Oil Pastry

  • 2 cups spelt flour*
  • 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ cup room temperature coconut oil
  • 6-8 tablespoons cold water

Pasty Filling

  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1 medium leek cut into 1 cm rounds
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • Juice of a lemon
  • ½ cup little white beans cooked
  • ½ cup frozen peas
  • ½ cup hummus
  • 1 batch caramelised onions

Instructions

Spelt Coconut Oil Pastry

  • Place the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment. Pulse until combined. Add the coconut oil and pulse until sandy, then add the water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing between each addition. The finished pastry should be a little crumbly looking but come together easily when pressed.
  • Form a disc with the pastry and wrap it in something to keep the moisture in (I like beeswax wrap). Set it aside, at room temperature, while you prepare the filling.

Pasty Filling

  • Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leek and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened. Stir in the salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Add the beans, onion, and peas, and stir to combine. Set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to about 5mm and cut large rounds, about 15cm**.
  • Place a tablespoon of hummus on each round and top with a couple tablespoons of the pastry filling. Repeat, rolling out any leftover pastry, until it’s been used up.
  • To close the pastries, use a finger or brush to slightly dampen the outer ring of the pastry round. Pinch each pastry closed, starting at one corner and moving around to the other. Use a fork to crimp the edge and seal the pasty. If it tears slightly don’t worry, it shouldn’t open up much in the oven.
  • Brush the pasties with an egg wash if desired to help with browning. Continue until all the pasties are sealed, then place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until crisp. Serve hot or keep leftovers in a sealed container for up to 2 days.

Notes

* I make this pastry with a mix of different spelt flours. Here I did half whole and half light, but it works well with fully light and whole spelt as well. Avoid bread flour.
** I used a cereal bowl to make the round imprints in the pastry and then cut them out with a butterknife. If you’ve been blessed with a nice pastry cutter, and you can use that instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g Calories: 389kcal Carbohydrates: 55g Protein: 12g Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 9g Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 4mg Sodium: 926mg Fiber: 10g Sugar: 9g
© Alexandra Daum
Course: Mains
Cuisine: British
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More Mains:

A bowl of pasta with green sauce and basil.Super Green Pasta
Peanut butter noodle bowl in a large ceramic serving dish.Ten Minute Peanut Butter Noodle Salad
Kale topped pizza on two sheets of parchment paper.Winter Pizza
Mushroom pot pie with a serving on a separate plate.Mushroom Pot Pie (Vegan)

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Comments

  1. Nicky Hawthorne says

    January 10, 2018 at 7:50 am

    Made these. Impressed all my friends. Thank you. Will make again and try w mushrooms.

    Reply
  2. Alexandra Daum says

    January 18, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    I'm so happy to hear that, Nicky! They'd be amazing with mushrooms, great idea.

    Reply

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