Pastel pastries with meat filling

Name: Pastel pastries with meat filling (Pastel de feira de carne)
Cuisine: Brazilian
Ingredients: 260 g/9½ oz/scant 2¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour; 5 ml/1 tsp salt; 30 ml/2 tbsp lard or white cooking fat, diced; 30 ml/2 tbsp lard or white cooking fat, diced; 5 ml/1 tsp cachaça or vodka; 5 ml/1 tsp cachaça or vodka; 15 ml/1 tbsp white vinegar; 120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup warm water; ¼ onion, finely chopped; 400 g/14 oz lean minced (ground) beef; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 40 g/1½ oz/¼ cup green olives, sliced; 15 ml/1 tbsp parsley, chopped; 15 ml/1 tbsp finely chopped spring onions (scallions); ground black pepper; hot pepper sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce or mustard, to serve; hot pepper sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce or mustard, to serve; hot pepper sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce or mustard, to serve; hot pepper sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce or mustard, to serve

Pastel de feira de carne

Preparation info

Makes about
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food and Cooking of Brazil

By Fernando Farah

Published 2011

About

The secret of this crisp and flaky pastry is the addition of a little cachaça. One of the most popular savoury ‘pastels’ sold on the streets is packed with a mixture of well-browned lean minced beef, simply flavoured with garlic, onions, parsley and a generous amount of salty green olives.

Ingredients

For the pastel pastry

260 g/9½ oz/scant 2¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour

Americas
Brazil
Pastry

Method

1 To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the lard with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2 Stir in the cachaça and white vinegar, then gradually mix in the warm water; you may not need it all, so add a little at a