Salteñas
Juicy baked beef pastries
Bolivia's baked mid-morning pastries filled with a juicy, spiced beef stew
Salteñas are the pastries all of La Paz queues for between 10 and noon, when they come out of the oven: a slightly sweet, golden crust wrapped round a soupy filling of beef, potato, peas, olive and egg in a gelatine-set broth seasoned with cumin and ají. The trick, and the fun, is to bite off the top and sip the juice without spilling. The mistake is filling the pastry with warm stew: the filling must be chilled overnight until it sets firm, or it leaks. Chef's tip: hold a salteña upright, nibble off one corner and drink the juice before eating the rest.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
For the filling
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 ⅛ lb beef rumpin 5 mm dice
- 2 cups beef stock
- ⅜ oz powdered gelatine
- 1 potatoin 5 mm dice, boiled
- 3 ½ oz peascooked
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 eggshard-boiled and chopped
- 16 black olivespitted
For the dough
- 1 ⅓ lb plain flour
- 2 ⅛ oz sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 ½ oz buttermelted and cooled
- ¾ cup warm waterabout
- 1 eggbeaten
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan and cook 2 onions for 8 minutes. Add 2 tbsp ají amarillo paste or mild chilli paste, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp dried oregano and cook 2 minutes.
10 minStep 2: Add 1 ⅛ lb beef rump and cook for 5 minutes, then add 400 ml of the 1 ¾ cups beef stock and simmer for 25 minutes, until the beef is tender and cooked through.
30 minStep 3: Sprinkle ⅜ oz powdered gelatine over the rest of ½ cup beef stock and let it swell for 5 minutes, then stir it into the hot stew until dissolved. Add 1 potato, 3 ½ oz peas, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 3 tbsp chopped parsley.
5 minStep 4: Cool, cover and chill overnight until set like jelly.
720 minStep 5: For the dough mix 1 ⅓ lb plain flour, 2 ⅛ oz sugar and 1 tsp salt, add 5 ½ oz butter and enough ¾ cup warm water to make a soft, smooth dough. Knead 5 minutes, wrap and rest 30 minutes.
35 minStep 6: Heat the oven to 425°F. Divide the dough into 16 balls and roll each into a 14 cm round about 3 mm thick.
Step 7: Put 2 tablespoons of the set filling, some 2 eggs and an olive (16 black olives) in the centre of each. Brush the edge with water, fold up into a half-moon standing on its base and pinch a rope-like seam along the top.
Step 8: Brush with 1 egg and bake for 18–22 minutes until deep golden. The filling melts back into juice and must be piping hot. Cool for 5 minutes before eating, as the juice is very hot.
22 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 290 kcal
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does salteñas take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of sweet paprika?
- Smoked paprika, half the amount.
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