The pastes from Hidalgo (pastes pachuqueños)
In the State of Hidalgo, the paste (P-AH-S-TEY) is a special traditional empanada that is popular throughout the State: more specifically in the town of Real del Monte, and in Pachuca, where this recipe took its name from. This mexican recipe was brought to Mexico by the British workers who came to the silver mines in that region, between 1824 and 1848. The pastes are still frequently prepared with their original recipe, with meat, leek, parsley and onion; but over time a few ingredients were added to make this a true mexican dish. Today in Hidalgo there's many different types of paste: poblano chile, tuna and even sweet dessert types.
One important aspect to making pastes as opposed to making empanadas is that with pastes the stuffing isn't cooked before placing it in the dough; it cooks with the paste in the oven.
Recipe for the Pastes Pachuqueños
Ingredients for four guests:
Dough:
* 4 cups flour
* Half cup shortening, at room temperature
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* A cup of milk
Stuffing:
* 1 lb. potatoes, diced to small cubes
* 1 lb. ground beef or steak meat, sliced
* One Leek thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (or to taste)
* 3 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
* Salt and pepper
Green Salsa:
* 1 avocado
* 2 serrano chiles
* 2 tomatillos or green tomatoes
* one onion
* Fresh cilantro leaves
Preparation:
The Filling:
1) Put the meat in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, add raw cubed potatoes and leeks, parsley, and chiles, mix everything with some oil.
The dough:
2) Sift flour 3 times and mix it with salt and baking powder, add the shortening and stir with a fork or scrape
3) Add the milk little by little and knead until dough stays together; stop adding milk when then dough gets right texture. Knead a little more, then leave the dough in the refrigerator for thirty minutes.
4) Sprinkle some flour over the flat surface you will use to roll the dough; with a rolling pin flatten the dough then cut out 6 inch circles.
5) Preheat the oven to 350 °F,
6) Beat an egg; place the filling over each dough circles, fold and seal each one with a fork; brush them with the egg to make them shiny. Arrange on a baking sheet greased and floured baking, also barnízalos out.
7) Bake 40 minutes at 350 °F (varies in every oven, so keep an eye on them)
8) While the pastes are baking, we can make the salsa to accompany the pastes: using a blender, Blend green tomatillos, boiled onions, cilantro, avocados and one or two boiled green serrano chiles
