How do I solve 17 down in Times Cryptic 3295?

Question

Accepted Answer

17 down reads "Begin small pastry dish" (5 letters); the answer is START. It's a charade: the answer breaks into parts in clue order, each part clued by a word or short phrase. No indicators needed; watch for standard abbreviations (RA = artist, US = American, IN = at home) and short synonyms. The full step-by-step breakdown is on this page.

Begin small pastry dish (5)

17D — Begin small pastry dish (5) — START