Sunny vegetable patties recipe

By Levi Roots

Serves 4
Takes 30 minutes to make, 30 minutes to cook, plus chilling
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Patties are the most widely available street food in Jamaica: the Jamaican answer to fast food. This is an ‘ital’ version – i.e. Rasta-style, meaning it’s meat-free. It uses bright, healthy veg and the yellow Jamaican patty pastry. The colour matches the feeling you get from the patties – like sunshine.

Ingredients

½ yellow pepper, cut into small dice
1 medium carrot, cut into small dice
200g (about ¼) butternut squash, cut into small dice
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 spring onions, finely chopped
75g canned sweetcorn, drained
50g vegetarian orange cheese (such as vegetarian Double Gloucester), grated
1 tsp sea salt

For the patty pastry

225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ tsp ground turmeric
110g cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 small free-range egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

Method

1. For the pastry, put the flour, turmeric and a pinch of salt in a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers. Add 4-5 tbsp cold water, mixing quickly with a knife until the pastry comes together. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6.
2. Put the pepper, carrot and squash in a saucepan with a small amount of just-boiled water to cover. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Drain, place in a bowl and mix with the remaining filling ingredients.
3. Cut the pastry into 4 equal-sized pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry pieces to make 4 large ovals (approx 15cm in diameter) with the thickness of a pound coin. Divide the filling among the patties, placing it on one long half of each oval, leaving 1cm around the edge. Brush the edges with water, fold the empty halves over and use a fork to crimp the patty edges together.
4. Prick the patties a couple of times with a fork, brush with the beaten egg and cook for 25 minutes until golden on the outside and cooked through.

Nutritional info

Per serving: 515kcals, 29g fat (17.4g saturated), 11.3g protein, 56.3g carbs, 7.7g sugar, 1.3g salt

Chef's tip

To freeze: Make the patties up until the end of step 3, then open-freeze them on a tray. Place them in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge, then continue from step 4.