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Pastel is the crisp, blistered fried pastry sold at Brazil's open-air street markets, called feiras, where vendors fry them to order in giant woks of oil. The classic carne filling is seasoned ground beef with green olives and chopped boiled egg. This version wraps it in a cheesy keto dough that fries up golden and crisp at the edges.
Per serving: 552 calories · 4.8 g net carbs · 29 g protein · 46 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- Filling: 9 ounces ground beef
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 8 green olives chopped
- 1 hard-boiled egg chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Dough: 1 3/4 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 large egg for the dough
- Avocado oil for frying (about 2 tablespoons absorbed)
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up, for 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and paprika and cook 3 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper, take off the heat, and stir in the olives, chopped egg and parsley. Cool.
- For the dough, microwave the mozzarella and cream cheese in 30-second bursts, stirring, until smooth. Mix in the almond flour and egg and knead into a smooth dough.
- Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out very thin, about 1/8 inch. Chill for 10 minutes, then cut into 8 rectangles of about 4 by 6 inches.
- Put a heaped spoonful of filling on one half of each rectangle, fold the dough over and press the edges firmly with a fork to seal.
- Heat 1 inch of avocado oil in a deep skillet to 350°F (175°C). Fry the pastéis two or three at a time for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden and blistered. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
About This Dish
Pastel is a fixture of the feira, the weekly open-air street market held in neighborhoods across Brazil. The most common story credits Chinese and later Japanese immigrants in São Paulo with turning it into a street food in the twentieth century. At the feira, pastel is traditionally washed down with caldo de cana, fresh sugarcane juice pressed on the spot. Popular fillings include ground beef, cheese, chicken, heart of palm and pizza flavor. São Paulo's Mercado Municipal is famous for its version filled with salt cod.
This recipe is from The Ultimate Brazilian Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 2: Snacks & Street Food (Historic Ouro Preto). See all Brazilian recipes