Back around the start of November we were sat around having a relaxing evening when we spotted an ad on T.V. with a URL link plastered under it's closing shot. It's one of those things that tends to start random banter and the discussion turned to everyday things which must have a website but you'd apart from the normal corporate fluff you never really think the is going to be much of interest on them.

Now normally you end up being right about this, but sometimes these train of thoughts lead somewhere far more interesting.

Now most parts of England have a Greggs shop. I wasn't aware of this until I just nipped back on the site to check it out again, and I even seem to remember a chain in my hometown in the northeast with the same logo but under a different brand. Corporate buy out over the years or a franchise I do not know (and more to the point not really relevant) but all you need to know is that these type of pastie shops are your working class staple. From hungry office workers to your average chav the great British public would be at a loss without these pie emporiums at lunch time.

We salute you.

Now being sat around bored we started to think how can we make this grand institution ever better. We browsed the site and came upon the section labeled "Contact Us" and noticed they let you send comments and suggestions in. Now we mulled this over for a while and tried to come up with the ultimate pastie experience that we could bestow upon the world, and after a few minutes of banter one suggestion raised it's head above it's breathen and we quickly submitted the one idea which we knew had to come to fruitation.

The Pot Noodle Pastie.

We combine the two ultimate lunch time snack items into one glorious meal.

Without a moment's thought for our own personal gain we submitted the idea to the people at Greggs. We could have marketed and brought it to the mass's ourselves we thought but we would be doing it a disservice if we didn't get it out there as quickly as possible. Greggs seemed the supply mechanism to do it. We could change the world!!!

Fast forward a week and big Dave the instigator of this received back a standardized automated response thanking him for his query. We were stunned that our vision was being shrugged aside so easily. So we took it upon ourselves to make real what up to this point had only been an idea in the deepest recess of our minds.

Feast your eyes upon the greatness that is: A Pot Noodle Pastie

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First things first through. You have to decide just what delights you wish to find inside your pastie when you bite into it. After a discussion we plumped for two of the finest flavors the oldskool Chicken & Mushroom and the pretender to the throne the Bombay Bad Boy (surely this should be rebranded to Mumbai Bad Boy?!?!?)



Next up you need to sort out your pastery. You want a nice light puff pastry really and whilst we have a chef among us, the fact is we all have things we'd rather be doing than making it up from scratch so for the purpose of this experiment we've got some from the local store.



Once you've arranged and prepared your pastry you need to make up your pot noodles as normal. Add in the hot water as well as the flavoring (to taste) and then let it cool a bit.



Then take the noodles and all their goodness and apply to your pastry bases like so.



It's important to remember to score the tops of these before placing in the oven other rise the steam given off may cause your pasties to explode and open a hole in the space time continuum (or they may just make a mess of your oven... dare you risk it through?). You may also wish to give them a egg yolk glaze too at this point in order to get that nice golden brown pastie finish.



Next place them onto a tray and stick them into a pre heated oven (around 200 degrees centigrade) for around 20 mins. Just keep checking them till they look something like this.



Hmmm. Tasty.

But who will try these marvelous creations? For some reason it fell to yours truly to take the first bite.



Notice the look of apprehension on my face?



NomNomNomNomNom

Then came Keith.



And then Dave the Iron Chef took hold of them.



And then after stopping for a pose with his masterpiece set about taking a bite himself.



Last up to the table is Paul who set about munching them with great vigor (and with the knowledge that all three of us were still alive at this point)



And the verdict?

WIN!

The chicken and mushroom lost a lot of it's taste during the cooking process. Discussion of maybe adding chicken stock and fresh mushrooms to it may improve the flavor but your diluting from the overall pot noodlyness of it all. The Bombay Bad Boy through was a taste sensation only improved by the pastienasation of it into a food stuff fit for the gods.

We've discussed various other pasties based around great british foodstuffs and we have a few further ideas in the pipeline. If you represent Greggs or another such firm and wish to get in on the ground floor then mail us for licensing options.