This is my husband, Bill’s story. This is about where my love for pasties or pastees came from. My Maternal Grandfather grew up in the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan in the copper mining town of Calumet, situated on Lake Superior. Many settlers from Finland, also known as Finns, moved to this area. My Grandfather was the oldest child (Born in 1898) of two Finnish immigrants who married in the old country and came over to the US to have a better life. Thus, Upper Peninsula Pasty was born.
Why Upper Peninsula Pasty?
Most Finns worked in the copper mines and one of their favorite meals to bring to work in their lunch pails was a dish known as Pastee…..(Pronounced as PASS TEE). Pastees are basically a low cost meal in a pie crust similar to a chicken pot pie or hot pocket or a stromboli or Calzone.
Their popularity was not just for taste but for convenience. Men could take them to work and keep them in their bib overalls, the fresh pastees would keep the men warm. Pastees were a little dryer than pot pies or calzones, so people would usually season them with Ketchup or a Simple brown gravy. I preferred Ketchup. The UP can get very cold, it has cold weather for 9 months out of the year.
Pasty and My Childhood Memories
One of my fondest memory that involves pastees was the time my mother made some for a family bus trip to a Michigan vs Notre Dame football game in South Bend, Indiana. I can still hear the reactions from the other people on the Bus Trip exclaiming “What smells so good??? What do You guys have??” We were the envy of everyone as most people brought dull and boring ham or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Pasty Recipe
Prep: 35 min. + chilling Bake: 1 hour and the recipe makes 12 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 cups shortening (My preference is Crisco)
- 2 cups boiling water (Preference: Filtered)
- 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour (Preference: Unbleached Organic)
- 2 teaspoons salt (Preference: Himalayan Pink Salt)
Filling:
- 6 medium red potatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled
- 2 small rutabagas (about 1-1/2 pounds), peeled
- 1 1/2 pound ground meat, beef, pork, and or chicken
- 2 medium onions, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
- 3 teaspoons salt (Preference: Himalayan Pink Salt)
- 2 teaspoons pepper (Preference: Course Ground)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/4 cup butter
- Optional: Half-and-half cream or a lightly beaten large egg
Directions
1. In a large bowl, stir shortening and water until the shortening is melted. Gradually stir in flour and salt until a very soft dough is formed; cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours.
2. Cut potatoes and rutabagas into 1/8- or 1/4-inch cubes; do not make cubes too large or they will not cook properly. Gently combine ground meat. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, rutabagas, onions, meat mixture and seasonings. Grandma preferred parsnips over rutabagas! She would use the meat she had and ground it, Grandpa preferred meat was pork.
3. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll out 1 portion at a time into an 8-in. circle. Mound 1-1/2 to 2 cups filling on half of each circle; dot with 1 teaspoon butter. Moisten edges with water; carefully fold the dough over the filling and press edges with a fork to seal.
4. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Cut several slits on top of pasties. If desired, brush with cream or beaten egg. Bake at 350° until golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool on wire racks. Serve hot or cold. Store in the refrigerator.
What else can I add to this pasty recipe?
To make this pasty recipe your own, add or swap in whatever vegetables and meats you have in the fridge. Try cubed chicken or turkey, carrots, peas, and other herbs and spices. We looked for Grandma’s recipe and could not find it, so searching the internet I found the one above and it was very close.
My husband and I belong to a fine wine of the month club and so choosing a wine to pair with our meal is always fun for my husband. For this meal of pasties, my husband’s top choice was the Nile Eddy Pinot Noir. This truly has become one of his favorites. This wine club has introduced us to great wine knowledge. Truly fine wine is hand-crafted and takes years from vineyard to bottle. All of this club’s wines come from Napa and Sonoma Valleys. If you drink wine then this is worth investigating the possibility of free fine wine delivered to your front door.
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