What to do with leftover pastry
If you’ve ever made a pie from scratch, you will be familiar with the dilemma that comes once you have popped the pie in the oven.
What do you do with the pastry off-cuts – those random pastry shapes that are leftover once you have cut out your pastry bases and lids?
The pieces may be small and seem insignificant, tempting you to just toss them in the bin without a second thought. With a tiny amount of time and a couple of extra ingredients you can turn these uninspiring scraps into delicious treats.
Make more pies!
If you collect all of your pastry scraps and re-roll them, you may be surprised how much pastry is left. In fact, you may have enough to make another pie, especially if you are making pies in a pie maker or muffin tin. The pastry may not be as flaky if you have re-rolled it, but it will still do the job. If you have run out of filling, check your fridge or pantry as you’ll probably have a couple of spoonfuls of something else you can use – think baked beans and cheese, or apple and cinnamon.
Decorate your pie
These little bits of pastry are perfect to make decorations for your pies. Depending on the size of your offcuts, you may need to re-roll them. Use cookie cutters or go freestyle to create pastry decorations to lay on the tops of your pies. This is a great activity to get the kids involved with. Lay the pastry decorations on top of the pie and brush with a little egg wash to ensure they go golden in the oven.
Cut them into strips and top your pie with a lattice
If you don’t have enough to make a pastry lid for all of your pies, then make a weave out of the pastry strips for the top. Get creative and make patterns based on the length of your pastry – check out the video for ideas.
Make more(ish) snacks
If you don’t want to make any more pies, there are still plenty of quick and easy things you can do with your pastry. It can be as simple as cutting your pastry into random shapes, sprinkling it with a yummy topping (grated cheese, pesto, paprika, cinnamon and sugar etc) and baking them until they are puffed and golden. If you are looking for something a little more refined, try these cheese straws by Jess from Forage in the Pantry or this leftover pastry roly-poly by Charmian Christie.
Leftover Pastry Roly-Poly
Save it for later
If you don’t have the time to use your pastry offcuts straightaway, combine them together, wrap them well and freeze them until inspiration strikes. If you leave them flat rather than balling them up, then they will defrost faster when you need to use them next and you will preserve the layers in your puff pastry.
