Turnips seem a little sweeter to me. I use rutabagas in my pasties all the time, wouldn't taste right w/o it.

I also like them saucier so I make a special gravy to serve with them. I can post my recipe if you's like.

Nancy

Thanks, Nancy, and yes, I would love your recipes! What a bonus!

I don't really care much for turnips cooked....I like them raw like a jicima.
I love Rutabaga cooked. It has a very strong flavor and will flavor everything it's cooked with. I put rutabaga in my vegetable soup.....and I can taste it in every bite. I like it in pasties.
I think...the over sized carrot you were thinking was rutabaga is a parsnip....which I think would also be good in a pastie.
Linda C

Duh! Of course it is a parsnip! I like parsnips in stews, soups, etc., don't know where my mind was. Sometimes I scare myself. Thanks for straightening me out.

Probably the taste I liked in the pasty but couldn't identify was rutabaga.

Ok. I will use rutabaga in the pasties, and make them a little
saucier. After I have more coffee to help clear the cobwebs!

Sherry

All that should go in a pasty is beef, potatoes, onions, swede (rutabaga), salt and pepper. They are quite dry. If you want one that's saucier, then make a pie. I love pies....... but a pasty can't be saucy. It's a protected species!!!

Here is the recipe I use...

Pasties

Dough

4 1/2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 C shortening
1 C unsalted butter, cold, cut in pieces
1/2 C water
1 lg egg
1Tbsp vinegar

In large bowl or food processor, combine dry ingredients, cut in shortening and butter,
to the size of small peas. Combine in a small bowl, water egg and vinegar, gradually add to flour mixture
tossing to combine. Don't overwork. If it seems dry, gradually add more cold water, Tablespoon at a time.
You need a firm dough, that is not sticky. If I am going to double the recipe, I make the dough in my food processor
up thru cutting in the butter, in single batches, then empty the processor into a lg bowl, doubling the
egg mixture and tossing it all together at once.
Form dough into a disk shape and refrigerate until ready to use.

Filling

2 Lbs coarsely ground beef
1 Lb coarsely ground pork
Note: I have used different cuts of lean beef and pork, grinding it myself using the grinder of my KA.
If you use a knife, mince it well, no larger than 1/2 inch pieces, smaller is better.

3 C finely chopped potatoes
2 C finely chopped rutabaga
1 C finely chopped carrots
2 med cooking onions, finely chopped
1 Tblsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
butter, approx 1/2 C

Combine all, EXCEPT butter, in a large bowl. I use a food processor on the vegetables,
but be careful not to grind them too much. You want chunks.

Preheat oven to 400�

Roll out dough , leaving it a little thicker than you would for pie crust. Cut into 6-8 inch
circles.
HINT: I use the lid from an older 3 qt saucepan. It has a sharp enough edge to use
like a giant cookie cutter. If you have to, use a lid and cut around it with a knife.

Fill with about 1 cup of filling and dot with a teaspoon of butter. Fold in half and use a fork to
press the cut edge to seal. You might want to moisten the cut edge with a pastry brush dipped in water
to insure a good seal. You can also roll the edge a bit before using the fork if your pastry is uneven.
Combine 1 egg and 1 Tbsp of water, brush top of pastie and with a small sharp knife, slash the top about 1 inch.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheet,
Bake 1 hour, or until a fork inserted through the slash meets no resistance, and pastry is golden.

Special Gravy

Brown 2 C of filling, in rendered fat or butter. You can use more or less depending on what you have left over, but I always save at least 2 C. When browned add 2 cups of water and simmer until vegetables are well cooked,about 15 min. Mash with a potato masher or tranfer to food processor bowl and pulse to smooth slightly.
Return to pan,if you like lots of gravey, you can add etra beef stock or water at this point. Bring to a boil and thicken if needed with 1/4 C of flour mixed with 3/4 C of water. Add gradually to meat mixture, to desired gravy consistency. Ladle over hot pastie or serve on the side. Salt and pepper to taste.

You should get about 6-8 pasties from this recipe, depending on size and amount of filling you put in each one. I like to double or triple the recipe as they freeze very well, I freeze the gravy also, in small amounts.

Nancy

Rutabaga is a cross between turnip and cabbage, both members of the brassica family. Rutabagas are normally about the size of a softball but can grow much larger. I've seen one that was more like the size of a bowling ball. As I recall, it weighed about nine pounds.

We have an excellent local rutabaga variety which is called Eastham Turnip, never rutabaga. It is white and good flavored even when grown very large. The town of Eastham sometimes holds a turnip festival in the fall.

Jim

Eastham Turnip is a turnip....not a rutabaga....it's white....and an heirloom variety.
Any pasties I have eaten....admittedly not very many, but most were made by people using an old recipe from the Cornish mining areas....used cubed meat....not ground.

Many,many,many years ago, I had a girlfriend that was
a dancer, and she wore 'pasties' as part of her costume.
BOY, am I old.

Well, Islay, I will bow to your superior knowledge on the subject and won't make them saucier! I will use Nancy's recipe, which sounds perfect to me.

Nancy, I am off to the grocery to find a rutabaga and will follow your recipe exactly. Thank you so much for posting it.

As a rutabaga novice, Jim, I wish I had one of yours to start with. I
just hope I can find any kind of rutabaga today.

Thanks, everybody. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Sherry

Well, Islay, I will bow to your superior knowledge on the subject and won't make them saucier! I will use Nancy's recipe, which sounds perfect to me.

Nancy, I am off to the grocery to find a rutabaga and will follow your recipe exactly. Thank you so much for posting it.

As a rutabaga novice, Jim, I wish I had one of yours to start with. I
just hope I can find any kind of rutabaga today.

Thanks, everybody. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Sherry

Yes, lbpod, you ARE old! Vaudeville old! Very funny!

Nancy - where the does gravy come in? Do you serve them with the heated pasties?

I grew up with Cornish pasties which were a meat and potato dumpling, a bit like an empanada. I read that the Cornish miners carried these into the mines with them, so they were sturdy and filling. I don't recall gravy anywhere.

lbpod - the pasties that dancers wear are pronounced differently. They are "pay-sties" as opposed to "pah-sties". I was greeted by gales of laughter the first time I mentioned pay-sties in this country.

Cheryl

Cheryl, the gravy was my own idea. I found pasties rather dry and decided that was what they needed. I just put it on at the table. A scoop of gravy over the pastie is wonderful.

Nancy - those look delish! I need to try your gravy idea. It would make the pasties taste a bit like steak and kidney pie which has a nice gravy in the filling.

Cheryl

Nuts. There are no rutabagas or turnips to be found today in any of the markets near me. The Mexican market will get some Thursday, so I have to wait til then. I have everything else. Thursday, hurry up and get here!

LOL, lbpod, you must have had quite a girlfriend!

I agree, Islay, there have to be "beggies" in my pasty. I love the darned things, but I want them to be dry. They don't have gravy or sauce in them and Dad used either gravy or catsup on his, but I like to just be able to pick one up and eat it without a mess, the ultimate handy lunch.

Beef, onion, potato, rutabaga, salt/pepper, wrapped in pastry, that's what you get here if you get a pasty.

Annie

I learned to make pasties from my mother in law, who was born and raised in Houghton, MI.
She always used beef suet and butter in the crust with the flour, salt and water.
They called pasties with rutabegas Finlander pasties.
The ones I make call for cubed top sirloin, potatoes, onions and topped with salt, pepper and butter.
I haven't made them since DH had coronary bypass surgery....and it is difficult to find good beef suet in our area.
DH's family always used a lot of catsup on theirs but I like hot Mexican salsa or pickled jalapenos on mine.

No garlic!!!eeeeek. My daughter lives in Cornwall so I have to admit to having eaten rather a lot of them........There are many different ones now - cheese and onion, vegetarian..... but the original is still the best, I think. Yes, cubes of beef not mince.

My husband is an extraordinarily good shopper, except when it comes to rutabagas. He ALWAYS ends up bringing home turnips. They're just nowhere near as good, IMO.