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Torta capixaba
Seafood and palm heart pie
Torta capixaba: Espírito Santo's Holy Week seafood and palm-heart pie in a clay pan
Torta capixaba is the Good Friday dish of Espírito Santo in south-east Brazil, cooked in the region's black clay pans (panelas de barro). Soaked salt cod, crab meat, prawns, palm hearts and olives are cooked with tomato, onion, coriander and annatto, then bound with beaten egg and baked until puffed and golden under a lid of egg and onion rings. It is served hot or warm with rice. Any ovenproof dish works. Chef's tip: fold in the egg whites last and gently, as they give the torta its light, set texture.
- Total time
- 105 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 14 oz salt codsoaked (see step 1)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions1 chopped, 1 in thin rings
- 3 cloves garlicchopped
- 3 tomatoeschopped
- 7 oz crab meat
- 10 ½ oz raw prawnspeeled
- 10 ½ oz palm heartsdrained, sliced
- 2 ⅛ oz green olivessliced
- 1 handful coriander and spring onionschopped
- 1 limejuiced
- 8 eggsseparated
- ½ tsp saltto taste
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Soak 14 oz salt cod in cold water in the fridge for 36 hours, changing the water 4–6 times. Poach for 10 minutes, then flake, removing skin and bones.
10 minStep 2: In a wide pan, fry the chopped half of 2 onions and 3 cloves garlic in 4 tbsp olive oil for 5 minutes. Add 3 tomatoes and 1 tsp annatto (urucum) powder or paprika and cook for 5 minutes.
10 minStep 3: Add the cod, 7 oz crab meat, 10 ½ oz raw prawns, 10 ½ oz palm hearts and 2 ⅛ oz green olives and cook for 5 minutes, until the prawns turn pink and opaque. Stir in 1 handful coriander and spring onions and 1 lime, taste and add ½ tsp salt if needed. Cool slightly.
5 minStep 4: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Whisk the egg whites from 8 eggs to stiff peaks, then fold in the yolks. Fold two-thirds into the seafood.
Step 5: Spread in an oiled clay pan or baking dish, cover with the remaining egg and lay the onion rings on top.
Step 6: Bake for 25–30 minutes, until puffed, golden and set in the centre. A common mistake is a watery torta: cook off the juices well before adding the eggs.
28 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 36 g
- Carbs
- 8 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does torta capixaba take?
- About 105 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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