Pastelitos De Carne Central American Meat Pies Food

PASTELITOS DE CARNE (PUFF PASTRY WITH MEAT FILLING)

Steps:

• Follow recipe instructions from my carne molida post.Let meat cool.Note: Although my carne molida recipe calls for potatoes and sofrito, these two can be excluded from the carne molida you make for this dish. You will still end up with delicious picadillo.
• Unfold puff pastry sheet and with a rolling pin roll out to an 1/8 of thinness.Then using a biscuit cutter or cup, cut circles.Brush circles with egg wash.
• Add a tablespoon or more to center of circles.Top with another circle and press down with your fingers all around circle.Brush the tops with egg wash again.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.Serve with hot sauce and hot peppers. Enjoy!

PASTEIS DE CARNE (FRIED PASTRIES WITH MEAT FILLING)

Steps:

• To prepare the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
• Add the melted shortening and warm milk and water.
• Mix to a smooth dough and cut into 2 pieces.
• To prepare the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic and fry for 5 minutes until soft and golden.
• Add the tomatoes, ground beef and salt.
• Simmer for 20 minutes until almost dry.
• Remove from the heat.
• Add the chopped parsley, egg, cheese and olives and mix well.
• To assemble pastries, roll out the pastry on a floured board to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cut 12, 4 inch circles from each piece, 24 circles.
• Place 1 tablespoon filling on each circle and moisten around the edge with warm water.
• Fold over and seal the edges well.
• Deep fry in preheated 375f degree oil for 4 to 5 minutes until golden and crisp.
• Remove with slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper towel.
• The pastries are also delicious cold and make good picnic fare.
• They may also be made without the ground beef.
• Variation to replace ground beef, use finely chopped ham, chopped chicken, or shrimp.