Pumpkin Pasties

Last time, I looked at an extract where Harry buys all sorts of treats from the Hogwarts Express trolley. I thought I'd follow it up with the scene where Harry brings back to his seat and starts to eat his hoard.

"Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped

it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four

sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always

forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on --"

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much

time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share

before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling,

sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties,

cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten)."

(Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter Six - The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters)

Harry uses food as way of offering friendship, and sharing his pasty with Ron is a beautiful, heartwarming gesture. I love the innocence of this scene and the way that Rowling makes a subtle nod toward the role of food in social settings.

I made some pasties for me to share with my best friend, my mum, Unfortunately, pumpkin season seems to be over, so I substituted pumpkins with butternut squash. I found a nice simple recipe on the Coop website; I think that simplicity is the key here so that the pleasure is found equally in the food and in the act of sharing.

I prepared all the ingredients for the filling, which constisted of butternut squash, red onion, garlic, vegetable stock and spinach (who knew peeling and dicing butternut squash could be so time consuming?!) and got my  (ready made) shortcrust pastry out of the freezer.

The onion was softened in a pan, to which I added the squash and garlic. After simmering for a while in vegetable stock, I removed the mixture from the heat, added the spinach and left to wilt. I unrolled the pastry, cut out some circles, spooned some mixture into the middle of each and added some cheese. Finally, I folded the pastry to make the classic pastie shape and brushed with egg.

After 15 minutes in the oven, the steaming pasties were ready to devour, perfectly golden and ready to share.

I'm really proud of these Harry Potter inspired savoury snacks, they turned out pretty well. Mum definitely enjoyed them too!

Next Time - Mrs. Weasley's Fudge.