Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Pasteis De Carne
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pastry
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Add the melted shortening, warm milk, and water.
Mix to a smooth dough and cut into two pieces.
Make the filling
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic, and fry for five minutes until soft and golden.
Add the tomatoes, ground beef, and salt.
Simmer for twenty minutes until almost dry.
Remove from the heat.
Add the chopped parsley, egg, cheese, and olives, and mix well.
Shape and fry
Roll out the pastry on a floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch.
Cut twelve 4-inch circles from each piece, twenty-four circles total.
Place one tablespoon of filling on each circle and moisten the edge with warm water.
Fold over and seal the edges well.
Deep-fry in preheated 375°F oil for four to five minutes until golden and crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper towel.
Serving notes
The pastries are also delicious cold and make good picnic fare.
They may also be made without the ground beef.
Variation: replace ground beef with finely chopped ham, chicken, or shrimp.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 13 of 15 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Mozzarella Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 85 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Olive | 1 large (4g) | 4 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Pastry | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that holds the dough and sealed filling together.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the pastry and keeps it flaky and short.
- Ground beef
- Provides the savory meat base of the filling, bound by moisture cooked off to near dryness.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and acidity that cook down into the filling's savory sauce.
- Egg
- Adds richness and body to the filling when mixed in after cooking.
- Mozzarella cheese
- Melts into the warm filling, adding creaminess and binding.
The step that matters
Sealing the edges well before frying. Moistening the edge with warm water and sealing it firmly helps the dough bond. A weak seal can let filling leak into the hot oil and leave the pastry open or greasy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, onion, garlic, tomato, beef, parsley):
- Cuminfits better
- Thymefits better
- Oreganofits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, onion, garlic, tomato, beef, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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