The Vegemite Kid recently decided it was o.k. to eat certain forms of  meat, as long as it came in the shape of a meatball, or was encased in puff pastry, accompanied by tomato sauce.  This strict  criteria has led to the Stegasaurus Pastie.  Anything resembling a dinosaur is sure to be a hit, and as long as your kids are into eating cold pastry and meat, you can send one to school in your lunch box.

This is what you will need:

500 grams of lean beef mince

1 small onion, grated

1 potato, grated

1/2 cup sweet potato, grated

1 large zucchini, grated

1 large carrot, grated

1/2 cup pumpkin, grated

2 Tbs. Tomato Sauce (you could use BBQ or Chilli sauce if you like.  Experiment!)

Approx. 7 sheets of Puff Pastry (I used lite puff pastry here for my Type 1 Diabetic).  This will make 28 pasties depending on how much filling you place in each Stegasaurus.

Milk to brush over pastry

Method:

Dump everything into a bowl.  There’s no special order here…..Did I mention this was super easy?

Mix everything together thoroughly until it looks like this.  You will probably have to get your hands dirty here.

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Divide pastry into 4 even squares and using a knife, round the corners.  Place a couple of tablespoons of filling in the centre of each square.

Fold the square in half, corner to corner and, using your fingertips, pinch edges together to seal the pastie.

This is where you can get creative.  I just gave my stegasaurus eyes.  If you have girls, and they aren’t into dinosaurs, maybe you could try love-hearts.  Place them on a lined baking tray and brush with milk.  After baking a couple of trays I found it was better to lie the pasties down to bake, otherwise the spikes on your stegasaurus won’t stand upright, but wilt and no longer resemble a dinosaur.

Bake at 180C for at least 25 minutes to ensure the mince is cooked.  If they start to burn, turn down the temperature of your oven or cover your pasties lightly with foil, and you should end up with something that resembles a Stegasaurus.  Serve with sauce for dipping, or cool and keep refrigerated for your lunch boxes.

LunchBox Tips….

Experiment with fillings.  You could use chicken mince and any of your favourite veges.  They freeze well.