Oh, Herro Monday.

Today is GORGEOUS!!!!
The sun is shining, birds and bees, flowers and all that jazz!

I decided to make something special for my husband, cause- well- he's pretty much amazing 24/7.
He's been bugging me for about 2 years to make "pasties". They are an Eastern European dish, consisting of a pie crust pocket filled with a meat and potatoes/veg mixture. Essentially a potpie in a hand held version.
I've made them quite a few times in the past, but I'm never very pleased with the results. They taste great, but break easily, you can never get a "right" amount of gravy to please everyone. It's a days worth of work for not as many "ooos" and "awwws" as you would expect.
But like a good wife, I made sure to buy all the ingredients for the dish.
Though, like I usually do, I upgraded a few things. Gone is pie crust, puff pastry squares in their place. I made a cheese and herb gravy, to coat everything, and made separate filling add ons for my husband.
Now that I've got everything ready, I'm also ditching the "pocket' idea. For today's version (though they can still be made as pockets) I'm using my giant cupcake pans to create a mini potpie mold.

Either way you choose to make the final version- I'm sure everyone will love the final results. Enjoy!

Pasty Filling

Makes 10 servings
Prep: 40 minutes
Bake time: 20

Ingredients:

1 large cube steak- diced to 1/4" cubes
3 medium russet potatoes- cut into 1" cubes
1 packet of brown gravy mix
3 Tbls of olive oil
1 Tbls crushed garlic
1/4 C Philadelphia Cooking Creme Italian Cheese & Herb flavor
Salt & pepper to taste

Various Veggie add-ons:
Caramelized onions & mushrooms
Peas & carrots

1. In a medium pan, cover cubed potatoes in salted water and boil until fork tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet, preferably one with tall sides. Add crushed garlic, then the diced cube steak. Cook over med-high heat until steak is browned, add pepper to taste.
3. Lower heat to med, add your boiled potatoes and fold gently to incorporate without getting "mashed potatoes".
4. Mix gravy packet in 1C water, then pour into your skillet. Again stir everything gently, once mixture has come up to a simmer, add your Philly cooking cream and remove from heat.
5. Let mixture cool before you use it as filling.

Once filling is cool, you can use it "as is", or add extras to personalise each pasty. I'm making a onion and mushroom mixture for my husband, and making a more traditional pea and carrot mix for mine. You could add shredded cheeses, and pureed veggies to make them more healthy for kids too!

Remember to get creative! Make them as pockets, pies or as a casserole. It's up to you!