Forfar Bridie

Forfar bridies are traditionally made with shortcrust pastry, but many modern recipes also use puff pastry for a flakier result. This recipe is based on a traditional version using shortcrust pastry. 

The history of the Forfar Bridie is somewhat contested, with the most popular stories crediting either a baker in Forfar in the 1850’s or a woman named Maggie Bridie who sold them in the town’s Buttermarket. The name also might come from the bridies being served at wedding meals (brides’ meals), or simply from their Scottish name for a meat pasty, ‘brodie’. Regardless of the exact origin, the bridie is a traditional Scottish meat pastry, filled with minced beef and seasoning, often including onions, and enclosed in a characteristic horseshoe-shaped shortcrust pastry. 

Forfar Bridies

This recipe for traditional Scottish Forfar bridies uses the classic shortcrust pastry and a simple, flavorful minced beef filling. The pastry is folded into a semi circular shape and vented with one or two holes

Servings 4 Servings

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

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Equipment

• 1 Large baking sheet
• 1 Mixing bowl
• Food processor For the pastry

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 500 g Ground Beef
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 40 g Butter unsalted Optional: Vegetarian Suet
• 1 Egg – beaten
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 tsp English mustard powder
• 3 tbsp Beef stock
• 1 Recipe – Shortcrust pastry Link to pastry

Instructions

 

• Make ahead: Prepare the short crust pastry and refrigerate for 30 ,minutes. Bring out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you plan to start to make the pastry easy to roll out.
• On a floured work top, roll out the pastry to about 1/8" thick and cut 4 ovals about 5 inches across the narrow side, using an oval dish as a guide. Set aside on your work space. Typical these are in a horseshoe shape.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF
• Cover the baking sheet and preheat in the oven.
• Mix the ground beef, chopped onion, butter, mustard and beef stock in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Place 1/4 of your mixture in the center of one end of a pastry oval. Brush the edges all around with a beaten egg.
• Fold the other end over and crimp to seal. Cut a hole for steam in the yop of the bridie. Repeat with the remaining pastry ovals.
• Brush each bridie all over with beaten egg.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Place the bridies on the baking sheet. Rturn to the oven and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Check the steam hole from time to time to make sure it remains open.
• If they brown a little early cover with foil for the remaining time.

Notes

Tip: to keep the base of the bridies from getting soggy use a ground beef with little fat and preheat the baking sheet so the base firms up quickly.

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Beef, Forfar, Forfar Bridie, ground beef, pasty