Happy Friday! I hope you all had a fantastic day, I've been busy in the kitchen with my grandfather, completing the pastizzi adventure :) Did any of my American readers venture out for the crazy black Friday sales? If you did you are a brave soul, I'm not sure I could handle all that craziness even for a good sale lol.
So today my grandfather and I were able to complete our pastizzis today! I honestly didn't know that much work went into them, but they are definitely worth it. One thing I thought I should mention is in regards to the dough, I would probably double it because the filling supersedes the amount of dough, apparently he will be making more next week to freeze (after today I feel I may be getting a phone call lol). Okay lets get to the pastizzi finale! Oh and remember I have the ricotta filling recipe today and how to put it all together :)
Ricotta Filling
Ingredients
1 container ricotta cheese
1 egg
dash pepper
Directions:
1) Mix all ingredients together. Set aside (yea it's really that easy lol)
bakes in the oven with the pastry :)
Remember the meat filling from my first post, put it on the stove to heat it up and add 3Tbs of HP sauce to it to add some zest to it. Set aside.
Putting the Pastizzis together
Directions:
1) Take you ball of dough and cut an inch and a half, then flatten it slightly with your hands and rub a little shortening on it.
2) Take a rolling pin and roll the dough until it is paper thin, it will start to stick to the rolling pin and pull apart, this is what we want. Rub with more shortening (do not use flour at all, the shortening should prevent most of the stickiness).
3) Repeat step two with another piece of dough, you are going to roll this piece over the first (creates a yummy flakiness). Rub with shortening.
4) Now start rolling the dough on to itself, rolling as tight as possible. Try to keep it as uniform as possible, folding in loose ends as they form. Rub with shortening and set aside, continue this until all dough is rolled. You can do three layers, but make sure the dough is super thin.
5) Have both fillings ready, now comes the messy but fun part! Cut one and a half inch sections of dough, and flatten with your hand like a tiny pizza. You want them ideally the size of your palm (size of a coaster).
6) Place a tablespoons amount of one of the fillings and place it not quite center in the dough. Then fold the dough over the filling and pinch closed like a little pocket.
meat and peas
ricotta
7) Repeat steps until dough is completely gone. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375F for 20 minutes, or until the bottom are golden brown, then turn on broil for 5 minutes to brown the top. Remove and let stand for a couple of minutes, then enjoy!
my grandfather said I had a beginners touch because his are the ones that look like a newbies lol
I don't think I could have thought of a better way to spend a dreary afternoon than being in the kitchen with someone I love :) We had lots of fun, he got to pass the torch down to the closest to next generation, and we even had some laughs at our own expense. I have loved these savory little treats for as long as I can remember, although when I was young I thought the ricotta ones were gross but not anymore ;) And know I can make them whenever my little heart desires!
So remember a few posts ago when I said I was starting to think about Christmas baking? Well the baking is going to officially start tomorrow, because my grandmother has decided to make her brandy Christmas cake early because I'm leaving in early December :) Now I know what everyone is thinking, "fruit cake, ick!", but this is not a typical fruit cake. It is much more moist and flavor full, and well it has brandy in it so it is more adult. She doesn't ice it like the fruit cakes that get re gifted over and over lol actually there is never any left at the end of Christmas day, and if that doesn't scream yummy goodness to you well I'm stumped lol :)
Another yummy treat she always had on Christmas day was Christmas pudding with a brandy sauce (this is sort of making her look like a drinker, but she is not at all lol), but I found out a couple years back she bought this pudding at Christmas bazaars and only made the sauce. I was shocked, because my whole life I thought she made this cake with forbidden sauce (that my mother would sometimes sneak me). Well, I have convinced her to make a Christmas pudding with me, and I'll have that post for you in the next week or two :) I'm just going crazy for Christmas, which is rare for me because I am used to a low key Christmas, but at Nathan's it is a couple days worth and I've got to say that I love it more like that ;) Until next time.........
Stay sweet,
Jennifer xoxoxo
