Rose Prince's Baking Club: beef pasties Makes 5-6 pasties For the pastry: 375g/13oz plain white flour ½ tsp salt 250g/9oz butter 60-90ml cold water For the filling: 1 tbsp dripping or butter 500g/1lb 2oz trimmed, diced skirt steak 2 medium onions, chopped 1 tsp garam masala 1 butternut squash, pared, deseeded and diced 4 medium potatoes, parboiled and diced Salt and ground white pepper Sift the flour on to the worktop and add the salt. Dice the butter, add it to the flour and rub it in to the flour with your fingers. When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add about 60ml of water and mix to a dough. Aim for a texture that is smooth yet firm when pinched between thumb and forefinger - you can add more water if necessary. Rest the pastry in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Heat the butter in a pan until it foams, then add the beef. Brown i lightly, then add the rest of the ingredients (aside from salt and pepper) and stir-fry for just a minute until the edges of the vegetables begin to soften. Don't overcook: the contents of the pasty will be cooked again in the oven. Season to taste - lots of white pepper is a must - then allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. To make the pasties, roll the pastry out on a floured worktop to about 3mm thick, then cut circles using a side plate as a template. Brush the edges with water or beaten egg with milk. Pile two to three tablespoons onto the centre, bring up the sides and pinch very firmly together. Crimp into a scalloped pattern then refrigerate for 20 minutes. Before baking, brush wit h egg beaten with a little salt. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and crisp, and steaming hot. A good point from Baking Clubber Joy Gill: "Perhaps you can answer a question which has bugged me for a long time. Why do recipes nearly always state 'unsalted butter" and further down the list of ingredients it will say 'pinch of salt" or 'quarter tsp of salt"? Why not just use salted butter? It sounds like simple common sense, I know; but the thing is, unsalted butter tends to be a more stable type for baking, meaning that it does not become greasy or even sour when being beaten or whipped. I think that you can get away with using salted butter in savoury pastry or biscuit recipes but do not overwork it with warm hands.