These little pasties/patties were part of a Caribbean meal I made for friends on Friday night. They remind me of the vegetable pasties they sell in the Caribbean shops in Notting Hill and Portobello Road, the ones in the clear plastic packets. I used to live on them when I was working around there, well working & shopping, actually mostly shopping!! I do miss London occasionally, the multicultural buzz and the food, obviously. The fantastic choice of vegetarian food from all over the world. You could eat from around the world just in one street. Anyway, I suppose that living here, in Spain, makes me more creative. It means I continue to learn about food by cooking recipes from around the world rather than going out to eat, cheaper too…!
Caribbean Vegetable Patties (adapted from an www.101cookbooks.com recipe)
Makes about 15 mini patties, Vegetarian
1 pack (375gr) frozen puff pastry, defrosted in the fridge overnight.
1 tbsp coconut oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 onion, diced
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes (I used 1 scotch bonnet fresh chilli, chopped)
salt & white pepper
2 large cloves garlic, minced
the juice of 1 mandarin & 1/2 a lime
about 75 ml of veg stock
3 tbsp grated coconut
1 large carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, scrubbed & diced
a handful of frozen peas
a handful of frozen sweet corn
1/4 cabbage finely shredded
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
the other 1/2 lime juice
1 egg, beaten
cumin seeds
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the onion, spices & salt and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and caramelized slightly. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more then stir in the juices, veg stock, carrots, sweet potatoes & coconut. Reduce the heat slightly, cover with a lid and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10- 15 minutes. Stir in the peas, sweetcorn, cabbage, herbs and the rest of the lime juice and cook for 3 minutes more (you don’t want any liquid). Taste & season again with salt & white pepper and leave to cool for at least an hour (I left mine in the fridge over night)
When your filling has cooled preheat the oven to 210 degrees. Flour your work surface and rolling-pin and roll out the pastry, if necessary, to about 2 or 3 mm thick. Cut out circles of pastry about 12cm (4 1/2 inches) in diameter (I cut around a small bowl). You will have to re roll the off cuts of pastry to get about 12 – 15 circles. Put a heaped tbsp of the filling in the middle of one half of the circle, being careful to leave the edges clear. Get yourself a cup of water, wet you fingers and wet the edges of the pastry. Fold the other half over the filling, press together with your fingers to seal and then crimp around the edges with a fork.
Place the patties on a baking tray lined with baking paper, brush the tops with beaten egg, sprinkle with few cumin seeds and bake until golden brown (about 25 minutes) turning half way through.
These patties are great served hot or cold so they would be perfect for a buffet table or as party food nibbles. Serve them with a chilli sauce or my easy mango & coriander yoghurt chutney. You may have some of the filling leftover, I did, so I made an individual Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie by topping it with mashed potato, grated cheese & breadcrumbs and baking for about 3o minutes. Really tasty Caribbean comfort food!
Mango & Coriander Yoghurt Chutney
2 pots greek yoghurt about 250 ml
about 3 tbsp mango chutney, if you want to make your own see my recipe here
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
a good squeeze of lime juice
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, taste and adjust as required. You may want more sweetness from the chutney or more lime juice, it’s up to you.
