How to make beef pasties (Upper Peninsula Michigan Recipe)

Member

By MI-Sandi
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating:

(9 Ratings)

This shows pasties made with a whole pie crust, rather than half

Being a native of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, (Da U.P) I grew up eating pasties. (Pronounced past-ees) I still enjoy making them today, and friends and family beg me to make extra ones for them as well. My mom made them for us girls for many years, and when she passed away a few years ago I had to start making them myself. There are a lot of recipes that she used to make, that I some how am able to mimic quite well in the kitchen. (I know that she is there with me, guiding me through them). This always gives me peace, and has helped me to cope with her being gone. This recipe makes 12 pasties. You could use a whole crust and make 6 large pasties, but the smaller ones are plenty filling!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

4 large potatoes (about 3 pounds)
1.5 # uncooked lean ground beef
1 med to large yellow onion
1 tsp Salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper
1 stick of butter or margarine
6 (9 inch) ready made pie crusts (Lazy mans recipe, my mom would shun on this. She did everything from scratch) I use the Pillsbury refrigerated ones
Or a good home made pie crust recipe (ambitious cooks recipe) See resources below
A large bowl
A large cookie sheet

Step 1

The bigger the chunks, the longer it will take to cook

1) Peel the potatoes and slice into one half inch slices. Than cut each slice up into small pieces (about one half inch square) Put in a large bowl.
Step 2

2) Peel and chop up the onion into small pieces. Add to the potatoes.
Step 3

3) Next crumble up the ground beef, and mix in with the potatoes and onions. Using your clean hands, mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and mix again.
Step 4

4) Now lay the pie crust out and cut in half. You now have 2 half circles. Put a generous amount of the beef, potato mixture on one of the half crusts (about 1 cup of mixtue) Put it towards one side so that you can fold the other side over the top. Before folding it over, slice about one tsp of the butter or margarine and lay it on top of the meat mixture. Now bring the crust over the top, and pinch together all the way around the pasty.
Step 5

Again this is using the whole pie crust, not half

5) Make a small slit or two in the top with a knife. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a fork in to see if the potatoes are soft. The crust should be a light brown color. We like to eat them hot. Now smother with catsup, and enjoy!(That’s the Yooper way. People from the U.P. of Michigan are called Yoopers)