Remove the middle of pasty once cooked (9)

I believe the answer is:

syncopate

'remove the middle of' is the definition.
(term meaning to not pronounce a middle syllable)

'pasty once cooked' is the wordplay.
'cooked' indicates an anagram (letters cooked into a new form).
'pasty'+'once'='pastyonce'
'pastyonce' is an anagram of 'SYNCOPATE'.

(Another definition for syncopate that I've seen is " Displace musical beats".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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