Empada de Palmito

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12 small empada tins, about 7 cm wide
• •Wide 25 cm skillet for the filling
• •Rolling pin
• •Pastry brush
• •Baking sheet

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Put the 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and pinch it into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like coarse sand with a few pea-size pieces. Add the egg and 3 tablespoons ice water, then squeeze the dough in your hand. If it holds together, stop. If it crumbles dry, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. The less you work it, the more tender the crust stays.

   If the dough starts feeling greasy, your butter is getting too warm. Put the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes. Cold butter gives the crust its tender crumb, and warm butter makes it heavy.
2. 2

   Chill the dough

   Shape the dough into two disks, one large disk with about two thirds of the dough and one small disk with the rest. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. This rest firms the butter and relaxes the flour, so the shells hold their shape instead of shrinking like they heard bad news.

3. 3

   Build the refogado

   Warm the oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until it murchar, soft and see-through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, just until you can smell it. This is where the filling starts tasting like food, so don't rush it. Burnt garlic is bitter, and it does not forgive.

4. 4

   Cook the palmito

   Add the tomato and cook until it collapses, deepens in color, and the pan looks glossy, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the chopped palmito and olives, if using, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until there is no watery puddle at the bottom of the pan. Palmito brings jar liquid with it. If you trap that liquid inside pastry, the bottom goes soggy and you blame the recipe. We are not doing that.

   Jarred or canned palmito is fine here. That's an honest shortcut. Drain it well, taste it, and season with attention. The shortcut with a cost is the packet of fake sauce, and that one stays at the store.
5. 5

   Thicken the filling

   Add the 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet. When it melts, sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons flour and stir for 1 minute, until no dry flour shows. Pour in the milk slowly, stirring the whole time, then cook until the filling bubbles gently and the spoon leaves a clean trail across the pan, 3 to 5 minutes. That's your white sauce, made right in the refogado. Take it off the heat, stir in parsley, taste for salt and pepper, and cool completely before filling the dough.

   The filling should mound on a spoon, not run like soup. Hot or loose filling melts the dough from inside, and then the empada leaks before it ever reaches the table.
6. 6

   Shape the shells

   Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly butter 12 small empada tins if they are not nonstick. Pull pieces from the large dough disk, about 2 tablespoons each, and press one into each tin with your thumbs, from the center up the sides, until the dough is about 3 mm thick. Keep it even. A thick bottom stays pasty, and a thin wall cracks when you fill it.

7. 7

   Fill and cover

   Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of cold filling into each shell, stopping just below the rim. Roll the smaller dough disk on a lightly floured counter and cut lids a little wider than the tins. Lay a lid over each empada, press the edges to seal, trim any extra, and prick the top once with a fork. Overfilled empada bursts. Sealed empada with no little opening cracks wherever it wants.

8. 8

   Brush and bake

   Brush the tops with the egg yolk wash. Set the tins on a baking sheet and bake for 28 to 35 minutes, until the tops are deep gold, the edges are browned, and the pastry loosens from the tins when nudged. Color is flavor here. Pale pastry tastes like flour waiting for permission.

9. 9

   Rest and unmold

   Let the empadas rest in the tins for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a small knife and lift them out. The filling sets as it sits, so give it those minutes. Rush now and the creamy middle spills out like it was never taught manners.

10. 10

    Serve or pack

    Serve warm or at room temperature. For a picnic, let them cool fully before packing so the crust stays tender instead of turning damp. They should feel sturdy in the hand, with a crumbly edge and a creamy palmito center that holds together when bitten.

Chef Tips

• •Buy pupunha palmito when you can. It is usually the better everyday choice and should look pale, firm, and clean in the jar. If the pieces are mushy or smell wrong after opening, don't cook courage into them. Throw them out.
• •Do not use powdered white sauce. Flour, milk, onion, garlic, and the pan do the job properly. A packet gives you salt and disguise, not flavor.
• •Cool the filling completely. This is not fussiness. Warm filling melts the butter in the dough before the oven can set it, and the crust loses the tender crumb you worked for.
• •The dough doesn't need to look perfect. It needs to be even, sealed, and cold. Desgourmetizar, please. We are making receitas que funcionam, not pastry jewelry.
• •For a bigger snack table, double the filling and dough. Empadas freeze well unbaked, and a freezer with salgado ready to bake is a very civilized thing.

Advance Preparation

• •The filling can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool it fully, cover, and refrigerate.
• •The dough can chill overnight. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before shaping, just until it stops cracking at the edges.
• •Unbaked empadas freeze for up to 2 months. Freeze in the tins until firm, then transfer to a bag or container. Bake from frozen at 190°C (375°F), adding 8 to 10 minutes.
• •Baked empadas keep for 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a 180°C (350°F) oven for about 10 minutes. The microwave softens the crust, and I am telling you now so you don't look surprised later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)