Ingredients

• 1 tbsp light olive oil
• 125g/5oz Serrano ham
• cubed
• 2 tbsp fresh sage
• sliced
• 225g/8oz butternut squash
• cut into 1cm/½in cubes
• 1 medium onion
• very finely sliced
• 140g/5oz Gruyère
• grated
• 3 tbsp double cream
• 2 x 375g/13oz sheets of ready-made short-crust pastry
• 1 free-range egg
• Maldon sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the ham until it begins to turn crispy. Add the sage and toss quickly. Tip on to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
• Make the filling by mixing the butternut squash
• onion
• cheese
• crispy ham and sage. Season generously with salt and freshly ground white pepper and then mix thoroughly with the cream.
• Place one sheet of pastry onto a floured board. Take a plate large enough to cut out 2 circles from the pasty. You can also just divide into two to make a triangle pasty.
• Whisk the egg up and add a teaspoon of water to make egg wash.
• Place a quarter of the mixture onto one half of the pastry. Brush the inside edges with some egg wash
• then carefully close to from a purse shape. Using a fork gently crimp the edges. Brush the top with more of the egg wash and place on a baking tray. Repeat the process to make the remaining three.
• Place in the oven for ten minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook for a further 25 to 30 minutes when the pastry will be golden brown and the pasties cooked through.
• Serve hot or at room temperature.