Britain's classic comfort food, wholesomely reinvented.
We sat down with a calculator, a Lidl receipt and a very full freezer to find out what a week of shop-bought pasties actually costs versus a homemade batch bake. The numbers surprised even us — and the homemade ones tasted better to boot.
The humble pasty might be the packed lunch your kids' book bag has been crying out for. Here's which fillings hold up, how to wrap them so the crimp stays crisp, and a full week of lunchbox plans that won't come home untouched.
The pasty was engineered for eating on the move, yet millions of us grab a limp meal-deal sandwich instead. Here's why the original packed lunch fell out of favour — and how to bring it back to your desk.
We froze, fridged and reheated a fortnight's worth of pasties to find out what actually happens to shortcrust between bake day and lunchtime. Air fryer, oven or microwave — one method wins, and the crimp edge tells you everything.
The pasty was invented as a working lunch, so I put that claim to the test: one wholesome homemade pasty, every weekday, for two weeks. Here's what happened to my energy, my budget and my meal-prep sanity.
Missing the coast already? We've bottled the flavour of five favourite British seaside towns into wholesome, crimped pasties — from Whitby's dressed crab to Morecambe Bay's famous potted shrimp. Consider it a staycation you can bake at home.
The Sunday roast is barely finished before the fridge becomes a jumble of foil-wrapped odds and ends. Here's how to turn that leftover chicken, veg and gravy into a batch of proper crimped pasties — with a conversion chart to keep your mixtures from going soggy.
The forecast is the only recipe planner you need. From storm-proof braising steak bakes to a chilled feta pasty for the two weeks of summer, here's how to keep the crimp going all year round.
There's a particular kind of grey that rolls over Britain in autumn — and only the smell of something crimped and bubbling in the oven can answer it. Here's why the pasty is our most weatherproof comfort food, plus five warming wholefood fillings to see you through the wettest weeks.
Beach days, festival fields and hilltop lunches — the pasty was doing portable food long before the meal deal existed. Here's how to pack a crimped parcel that survives the journey, stays safe in the sun and tastes even better outdoors.
The swede has been quietly holding the pasty together for centuries, yet most of us walk straight past it in the supermarket. Here's why the humble neep might just be Britain's most underrated vegetable — and how to give it the starring role it deserves.
Shrinking pasties won't make us healthier — it'll just make us hungrier. An argument for better ingredients over smaller portions, with a bit of mining history and two bakers who refuse to downsize.
Forget the motorway service station pasty — we've mapped a proper foodie pilgrimage across the South West, from spelt-pastry pioneers in Falmouth to a Devon bakery stuffing lentils and wild mushrooms into the crimp. Here's where to stop, what to order, and how much change you'll need from a tenner.
Yes, you can track your calories and still eat a proper pasty on a Friday night. We crunched the numbers on a classic Cornish and three lighter versions — pastry, filling and crimp intact — so you don't have to guess.
Cornwall has the PGI status, the tourism board and the crimped monopoly on our affections — but up in God's Own County, the Yorkshire pastel has been quietly feeding miners and mill workers for generations. It's time this underrated hand pie got its flowers.
Twelve freezer-ready pasties for less than the price of two meal-deal lunches — it sounds like a prank, but the maths checks out. Here's the full method, from one dough batch to three flavour twists, plus the reheating trick that keeps the pastry properly crisp.
We strapped on walking boots and empty Tupperware for a two-day pilgrimage across Cornwall and the South West, hunting down the independent bakers quietly reinventing Britain's favourite hand pie. Spoiler: spelt pastry is a thing, and it's brilliant.
Forget £4.50 meal deals and sad desk sandwiches. With one hour on a Sunday, you can batch, freeze and reheat pasties that beat any supermarket lunch on cost, nutrition and sheer crimp-per-bite value. Here are ten hacks to get you started.
We gathered three generations of proper Cornish pasty devotees, blindfolded them, and served five plant-based fillings alongside the real thing. Jackfruit, mushrooms, lentils and one very smug uncle — here's how it all went down, plus the recipe that fooled everyone.
Can you make a pasty that's genuinely better for you without losing the buttery, crimped magic? We rolled up our sleeves, raided the wholefood aisle, and put five classic swaps to the test. Here's what worked, what flopped, and what we're baking every week from now on.