Pastel
Pastel without a doubt is the most popular street food snack around Brazil, especially in Rio and São Paolo. Pastel is a thin pastry filled with various fillings and deep-fried. The origins of pastel are unclear, but it is certainly related to the Chinese spring roll, although the pastry is a bit different. The most common fillings are minced beef, cheese or shrimps, but one can find many more varieties including sweet ones.
Pastel comes in different shapes as well: it can be rectangular, triangular or half-moon shaped.
The following dough recipe suits about 16 pastels of 15x10cm (6"x4") rectangular size. Each of the suggested fillings is for 16 pastels as well so feel free to change the ingredients amount to suit your needs.
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Pastry:
3 cups white flour
3 tbsp. olive oil
50 ml (1.7 oz.) cachaça
150ml (5 oz.) milk
oil for deep frying
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Minced meat filling:
1 large white onion
4 cloves garlic
1 cup cashew nuts
500 g (1 lbs. 4 oz.) minced beef
ground cloves
ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. chopped spring onions
olive oil
salt
pepper
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Shrimps filling:
400 g (1 lbs.) shrimps cleaned
1 medium white onion
3 cloves garlic
4 medium tomatoes
½ cup tomato paste
2 tbsp. coriander leaves (cilantro) finely chopped
olive oil
salt
pepper
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Sweet cheese filling:
500 g (1 lbs. 4 oz.) ricotta or mascarpone or mixture of both
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsps. sugar powder
1 cup black raisins
Preparation time: 1 hr. 30 mins
Difficulty level: Medium-up
Servings: 16
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Ingredients
Preparation
Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl, mix together, make a hole in the center and pour the oil, cachaça and milk. Mix the ingredients well.
Put some flour on a working surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. Transfer to a bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough flat using a pasta machine or a pin roll, until it is about 0.3 cm thick.
Cut the pastry into rectangles of 15x10cm(6"x 4") and pile them with a little flour in between to prevent them of sticking.
Take a rectangle and put 2 tbsp. of filling in the middle. Brush the edges of the pastry with water and cover with another rectangle. Press the edges with a fork to seal it. Repeat the process with the remaining pastries. Up to this point it can be prepared a day in advance. Keep the pastels refrigerated. To prevent sticking use backing paper and plenty of flour and don't stack to many pastels one on top of the other.
Line a large plate or tray with paper towel. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat or deep-fryer. Test the oil with a piece of dough, if the dough floats with heavy bubbling around it, the oil is hot. Fry the pastries, for about 1 minute on each side until slightly golden and crispy. Serve hot.
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Minced meat filling:
Cut the onion in 4 lengthwise and then slice each quarter into ½ cm slices. Slice the garlic thinly.
Heat a large saucepan or wok on medium-high heat. Put 3-4 tbsps. of olive oil and sauté the onion until transparent. Add the cashew nuts and sauté 2 minutes more, then add the garlic and all the spices except salt. Stir together and add the beef. Stir with a wooden spoon to break the meat into little pieces and sauté until all the meat has changed its color. Finally add the parsley and the spring onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it cool completely before filling the pastry.
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Shrimps filling
Dice the onion finely, cut the garlic into thin slices, deseed the tomatoes and dice them.
Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat, put 3 tbsps. olive oil and sauté the shrimps for 2-3 minutes until its color changes. Set aside and clean the skillet. Heat it again, put 3 tbsps. olive oil and sauté the onion until transparent, then add the garlic and the tomatoes, sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and 1/2 cup water and mix well. Let cook for 3 minutes, then add the shrimps, the cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, mix well and set aside to cool completely before filling.
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Sweet cheese filling:
Mix all ingredients together and fill the pastry. After the pastels are ready let them cool for 2 minutes and sprinkle some sugar powder.