Pastéis de Chaves (Trás-os-Montes Veal Puff Pastries)

Chaves is about forty minutes from the village where my grandmother grew up in Trás-os-Montes, and every time we visited as kids there was a stop at a pastelaria for a bag of pasteis de Chaves still warm enough to fog up the paper. These are not your average puff pastry snack. They are thin, many-layered pastry parcels folded around a slow-simmered veal filling, sold on nearly every corner of that town, and defended fiercely as a point of regional pride the way Neapolitans talk about pizza.

The filling is really a small stew in disguise, veal or beef shin cooked low and slow with onion, garlic, white wine and a little cured ham until it falls apart, then chopped fine and wrapped tight. My grandmother always said the trick was patience twice over, once for the meat and once for the dozen thin folds of the pastry, though I will let you in on the shortcut I actually use on a Tuesday night: good store-bought puff pastry, rolled out just a touch thinner. Nobody at my table has ever complained.

These freeze beautifully unbaked, which makes them one of my favorite things to have on hand for when Sofia announces, always at the worst possible moment, that she has invited friends over. I like to serve them alongside my rissois de carne (recipe on the site) for a proper Portuguese appetizer spread, with a squeeze of lemon and nothing else needed.

Pastéis de Chaves Recipe

Prep time: 45 minutes · Cook time: 2 hours 20 minutes · Total: 3 hours 5 minutes · Servings: 12 pastries · Calories: ~260 per serving

Ingredients

• For the filling:
• 1 lb beef shin or veal stew meat, cut into large chunks
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 oz cured ham or prosciutto, finely diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• For the pastries:
• 2 sheets store-bought puff pastry, thawed (about 17 oz total)
• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
• Flour, for rolling

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cured ham and cook 1 minute more.
2. Add the meat and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for a minute, then add the broth and bay leaf.
3. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently for about 2 hours, until the meat shreds easily with a fork. Check occasionally and add a splash more broth if it looks dry.
4. Remove the meat, shred or finely chop it, then return it to the pot. Sprinkle the flour over the liquid and stir well to thicken into a thick, almost paste-like filling. Season with salt and pepper and let cool completely, even overnight in the fridge.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll each puff pastry sheet out slightly thinner than store-bought thickness. Cut into rectangles about 4 by 3 inches.
6. Place a heaping tablespoon of the cooled filling on one half of each rectangle. Fold over, press the edges firmly with a fork to seal, and trim into a neat parcel shape.
7. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with beaten egg, and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until deeply golden and puffed.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving, as the filling holds heat.

Recipe Notes

• Beef shin (also called shank) is the traditional cut and gives the best texture, but chuck roast works well too and cooks a touch faster.
• The filling can be made up to 3 days ahead, which actually makes shaping the pastries easier since a cold, firm filling is less messy to work with.
• To freeze, assemble the pastries but do not egg wash them. Freeze on a tray, then transfer to a bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding about 8 extra minutes.
• Look for cured Serrano or prosciutto at any American grocery deli counter as a stand-in for Portuguese presunto.