How to Make Seafood Pasties

This pasty can be likened to shellfish chowder in a portable crust. The sauce base is cooked until it becomes slightly thick and less likely to dribble out of the pasty onto your lap. Leeks and chives make this pasty exceptional.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Medium saucepan
• Sheet pan
• Wooden spoon
• Above ingredients
• Rolling pin
• 1 batch pasty dough, see related articles for recipe
• 1 medium-sized leek
• 4 medium-sized red or yellow potatoes
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 slices of thick-sliced bacon
• 4 cups water
• 2 lbs small local clams, such as cherrystones or bay clams
• ½ cup cooked crab meat
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ½ tsp fennel seed
• 2 tbsp chives
• 1½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 egg yolks, beaten

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and move the oven rack to the bottom slot of the oven.
2. Wash your leeks, potatoes, celery and chives well. Peel the potatoes.
3. Cut the green part and the roots of the leeks off and discard them. Cut the white part in half lengthwise and wash the two halves in water again to get rid of any lingering sand.
4. Cut the leeks into slices ¼-inch thick. Cut the celery into slices ½-inch thick. Dice the potatoes into ½-inch sized cubes. Finely slice the chives. Break the crab meat into bite-size chunks. Set aside.
5. In a medium-sized saucepan, boil the water and add the clams. Cover the pot.
6. Boil the clams for three minutes until the majority of the shells are open.
7. Strain the clams out of the water, reserving the water.
8. Let the clams cool for approximately 10 minutes.
9. While the clams are cooling, strain the reserved clam stock through some cheese cloth or linen to take out any remaining sand. Set aside one cup of the clam stock.
10. Once the clams are cool to the touch, take the clam meat out of the shells and set aside. Discard the shells.
11. Heat a heavy-bottomed, medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon to the pan and render the fat out of the bacon. When the bacon is crispy, take it out of the saucepan and set aside.
12. Dice the bacon into small pieces and set aside.
13. Lower the heat to medium-low heat and add the leeks, celery, bay leaves and fennel seed to the pan. Cook the mixture until the leeks turn translucent. Don’t let the leeks or celery brown.
14. Add the cup of reserved clam stock to the pan along with the cream. Cook the sauce over medium-low heat for approximately 15 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken.
15. Coat the back of a spoon with the sauce. Draw your finger through the sauce on your spoon, you should have a distinct line in the sauce where your finger was. This lets you know whether your sauce is thickening or not.
16. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper to your tastes.
17. Remove the bay leaves and add the chives and chopped bacon to the sauce.
18. Turn down the heat to low.
19. Add the clams, crab and potatoes to the sauce and mix well. Let the mixture simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. This lets the flavors of the sauce begin to absorb into the clams, crab and potatoes.
20. Divide your pasty dough into six equal balls. Set aside all but one ball.
21. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour onto the surface where you will assemble your pasties. Roll the ball into a circle ¼-inch thick and approximately 8 inches in diameter.
22. Ladle 1 to 1½ cups of the filling and sauce into the middle of the dough. Quickly fold the sides of the dough up and pinch in a seam on top of the filling. Make sure the seam is sealed well.
23. Create a fluted edge along the seam by placing your thumb and forefinger of your left hand in a U-shape approximately 1 inch apart over the right side of the seam.
24. Then place your forefinger of your right hand between your left hand’s thumb and forefinger on the opposite side of the seam.
    
25. Pull your hands apart slightly to indent the seam to look like a wave.
26. Move your hands down the seam, repeating the motion until you have the entire seam fluted.
27. Place the filled pasty on a cookie sheet and brush a little bit of the egg onto the top of the pasty with a pastry or basting brush.
28. Continue to make pasties until you have used all six balls of dough.
29. Place the pasties into the oven and cook for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and the pasties are aromatic.
30. Serve and enjoy.

Tips & Warnings

• You can freeze the rest of the clam stock in a resealable freezer bag for future use.
• When filling the dough, work as quickly as you can to prevent the sauce from running over the sides of the dough.
• The longer you let the sauce simmer, the thicker it will be. This will help to keep the bottom of the pasty from becoming too soggy to pick up.
• When eating pasties, be careful for the hot filling inside. Oftentimes the filling is hotter than the dough outside.