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Pasteis De Carne

Pastéis de Carne are deep‑fried pastry turnovers filled with seasoned ground beef, onions, tomatoes, olives, cheese, and herbs.

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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

Time4 to 5 minutes frying

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pastry

  1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.

  2. Add the melted shortening, warm milk, and water.

  3. Mix to a smooth dough and cut into two pieces.

Make the filling

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and garlic, and fry for five minutes until soft and golden.

  2. Add the tomatoes, ground beef, and salt.

  3. Simmer for twenty minutes until almost dry.

  4. Remove from the heat.

  5. Add the chopped parsley, egg, cheese, and olives, and mix well.

Shape and fry

  1. Roll out the pastry on a floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

  2. Cut twelve 4-inch circles from each piece, twenty-four circles total.

  3. Place one tablespoon of filling on each circle and moisten the edge with warm water.

  4. Fold over and seal the edges well.

  5. Deep-fry in preheated 375°F oil for four to five minutes until golden and crisp.

  6. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper towel.

Serving notes

  1. The pastries are also delicious cold and make good picnic fare.

  2. They may also be made without the ground beef.

  3. Variation: replace ground beef with finely chopped ham, chicken, or shrimp.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1313Calories
62 gProtein
62 gFat
124 gCarbs

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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Mozzarella Cheese1 oz (28g)85
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Pastrynot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. 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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