Tasty Tuesday – Veggie Pasty (Black Bean Pasty)

Anyone who reads my blog knows a couple things about me one I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I love to cook and I am a boarder line vegetarian (not by choice – lol). I have wanted a Pasty for over three months but the thought of eating one and getting violently ill from it doesn’t seem all that fun. Determined to make Pasty on a holiday weekend I decided I would try a vegetarian option by taking my Black Bean Burger Recipe and making them with that.

I know many people will read this and say sacrilege how dare you make a vegetarian pasty or vegetarian anything. A couple years ago I would have agreed (pre gall-bladder) now I enjoy eating a good meal without being in pain the next day or two.

Black Bean Burger Recipe:
Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used dried bean soaked and cooked)
1 egg
1/2 yellow onion, chopped (I used a 1/4 of an onion)
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I used 3/4 cup of saltines)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or granules (1 clove of minced garlic)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
Method

Put beans in a large bowl and mash well with a fork. Add egg, yellow onion, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine in a bowl – I mushed everything together to get it to look like meat. This recipe equals about 2 pounds of ground beef (from my experience).

Now for the Pasty Recipe –
My Recipe:

3 lbs potatoes, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
2 cups onions, diced (or 1/2 cup of a big Georgia onion)
2 lbs of ground chuck (in this case Black Beans)
salt and pepper
(Rutabagas – you can add 2 cups diced if you want – I hate rutabagas, so I leave them out!)
Pie crust enough for 1 dozen (the recipe I use make 1/2 doz at a time) or I buy frozen pie crust!

Mix potatoes, carrots, onions, meat and salt and pepper in a giant bowl – DO NOT BROWN MEAT or BEAN MIXTURE!
Take about a dozen 4 oz. pie crust dough balls that have been warmed to room temperature. Roll each into 10″ oval. Put 1 cup (or a little more) pasty filling on dough sheet. Pull over the tops and crimp the edges, poke holes with a fork (so the steam can escape). Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees.

They turned out much better than I had expected and I will be making them again once I forget how long it takes to make them – lol.