History Hurdles

• The pastie originated in Cornwall, England, but its fame as a portable meal for miners spread throughout Europe and among immigrant laborers in the U.S. Not surprisingly, the fillings began to vary as different regions put their spin on the dish. These days, if you include cabbage in a pastie, you are not making an authentically Cornish one, according to the Cornish Pasty Association. The organization specifies that only beef, onions, turnips and potatoes are acceptable as fillings.

Can-Do Cabbage

• Cabbage may not be considered authentic in an official Cornish pastie, but there's no reason not to include the vegetable when you make pasties. When cooked down before tucking into a crust, cabbage creates a hearty filling, either alone or combined with other ingredients. The Finnish-style pastie, kaalipiirakka, features cabbage, as does the Polish version, known as paszteciki.

Filling Finesse

• A Scandinavian-style cabbage filling is made by browning shredded cabbage in butter. The cooked-down cabbage gets coated with a syrupy vinegar sauce, then cooled enough to stuff into the pasties. The Polish version combines cooked cabbage with a buttery mushroom and onion mix. If you choose to make a Cornish-inspired filling, cooked cabbage can replace or join onions in combination with beef, potatoes and turnips.

Pastie Particulars

• To make a Cornish-style pastie crust, start with either homemade or store-bought pie crust. Large wine glasses work well to cut out the 5-inch circles you'll need. A generous spoonful of the cabbage filling goes onto one half of the circle before the unfilled dough half is pulled over the filling. Now that you've made the iconic half-moon pastie shape, crimp the edges tightly, brush the top with a beaten egg and bake in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 25 minutes.