Roll It for pastry perfection

It’s some testament to Mairéad Finnegan that one customer was willing to drive all the way from Killarney to Clonakilty... just to stock up on her ready to roll, all butter pastry.

“People like that are priceless,” smiles Mairead warmly, as we sit in the kitchen in Crossakiel, near Kells in Co Meath where she started her food business, Roll It, just three years ago, using her mother’s Kenwood mixer.

“It’s older than me!” jokes the former property manager whose career – and life – took a different direction after falling in love with a dairy farmer.

But then, the ability to reinvent herself seems to be in the Omagh woman’s DNA. Her late father, Eugene Nixon, played saxophone with the show band, The Polka Dots, before going on to run both a grocery and a sports shop, while her mother, Bernadette, returned to college after raising her family, completing a degree in theology through Queen’s University, followed by her masters.

Mairéad herself studied marketing and worked in property management in London through the ‘90s but longed to return to Ireland.

“I was always a home bird,” she says. “I used to cry going back after Christmas every year.”

Dream come true

She got her wish in 1999, when the upturn in the Irish economy brought her back to Dublin. What she did not expect, however, was to fall in love with Meath dairy farmer, John Finnegan, after a friend “engineered” a meeting following a rugby match.

While she admits it took time to get used to farm life (her initial nerves around the cows – or rather, the bull – spring to mind), the couple married in 2003 and had daughter Olivia, now nine. Mairéad continued to work in property, but the stress of the commute, juggling childcare, plus the impact of the recession on the industry soon began to take its toll.

“I started thinking I could do something else,” she recalls.

Working out the kinks

The idea for Roll It came when she was looking for an all butter puff pastry, but could not find anything suitable in her local shop. Sensing an opportunity for a high quality, ready to roll, frozen product and having always loved to bake, she completed a ‘start your own business’ course and conquered her nerves to contact the health inspector to assess her kitchen.

“The only thing she said was, ‘You can’t have those plants there,’” says Mairéad, pointing at the windowsill over the kitchen sink. “So I said, ‘That’s easy!’”

The inspector also advised Mairéad to do a food hygiene course and helped her draw up a HSAP plan to show potential stockists, with Avoca and Fallon & Byrne coming on board after she approached them with samples.

In the early days, Mairéad continued to work in property four days a week; there were even times she would drop the pastry at a friend’s freezer in Dublin before work, dashing out on her lunch break to make deliveries. It became clear, however, that something had to give, so Mairéad handed in her notice to concentrate fully on Roll It.

Not that there were no challenges, both professionally and personally. Mairéad admits that getting support from the bank to grow the business is a constant challenge, while nine months after taking the leap into the business full-time, John suffered a serious heart attack, though thankfully made a good recovery.

“That’s just life, and you just always seem to get through these things,” she says, adding, “I never lost faith in what we were doing.”

Success and expansion

Indeed, success at Blas na hÉireann, Great Taste and the Irish Quality Food Awards in 2014 and 2015 helped put Roll It on the national platform, leading to Mairéad joining Super Valu’s Food Academy programme and launching in selected Dunnes Stores just before Christmas.

Another game changer was linking up with Bunalun Organic, which has enabled Mairéad to distribute her pastry nationwide in a cost effective manner at just €2.50 a case. Roll It is currently stocked in 50 stores nationwide, but Mairéad is targeting 150 by the end of 2016.

All production now takes place in a purpose-built unit at home, with a LEADER grant-aided commercial roller to help with the larger volumes. Mairéad’s main ingredients include butter and free-range liquid egg from Clonarn Clover in Cavan, which she believes helps ensure the pastry’s consistency; as do her own methods of quality control.

“Every so often I will go in to a shop and buy a pack of my own pastry, and I take it home and use it to make something,” she says. “It gives me a sense of the consumer’s experience and I think it’s something all food producers should do every so often.”

While she initially started with sweet and plain short crust pastry, this summer, Mairéad will launch her all butter puff pastry. She is also looking forward to bringing her gluten-free pastry to the shelves, though has outsourced production to a specialised gluten-free bakery in Cork.

She also hopes to hire her first employee in the near future; though having leased the farm, John is now a dab hand in the pastry department.

Because sometimes, you’ve just got to roll with it.

Berry Zesty Bakewell Tart

1. Roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm/9inch loose bottomed flan tin.

2. Spread the lemon curd evenly on top of the pastry.

3. Beat the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Fold in the flour and ground almonds. Spread this mixture inside the pastry case on top of the lemon curd. Sprinkle with 100g of the fresh berries.

4. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 until it is a light golden brown in colour and firm to touch. Then allow to cool.

5. Gently melt some apricot jam in a saucepan and then sieve it. Brush the sieved jam on top of the tart to glaze.

6. Arrange the remaining fruit on top and then glaze with the remaining apricot jam.

Salmon, Spinach & Wholegrain Mustard Tart

1 x 400g pack Roll It plain short crust pastry

15g (.5 oz) butter

4 spring onions, finely chopped

2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves

200g (7 oz) smoked salmon cut in to strips

3 large eggs beaten

200 ml of crème fraiche

2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard

1. Roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm/9inch loose bottomed tart/flan tin. Line with parchment paper, then fill with baking beans. Blind bake your pastry case in a pre-heated oven at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

2. Melt the butter in a small frying pan and gently fry the spring onions for 2-3 minutes, or until softened and allow to cool.

3. Arrange the baby spinach leaves and smoked salmon in the base of the cooked pastry case.

4. In a bowl mix together the eggs, crème fraiche, mustard and cooled spring onions and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the tart case, pulling up some of the salmon through the egg mixture so that it is visible from the surface.

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 for 20-25minutes, or until just set and golden.

For further information and stockist details, call 046-924-3780 or visit www.rollitpastry.com

DON’T be intimidated by the idea of approaching shops: they are always open to new products.

DO get to know other food producers in your area as it can be a bit daunting on your own.

DON’T rush your business plan. A proper plan will keep you focused and motivated, even through the wobbly times. Try to get a good mentor from your local enterprise board to advise you.

DO avail of all the market research available from Bord Bia. It’s a wonderful resource.