Pastelitos de Carne (Salvadoran fried turnover)

The 'empanada' of El Salvador!

What is a Pastelito de Carne?

A crispy delight filled with seasoned meat and vegetables that is then garnished with curtido Salvadoreño and homemade salsa. It's very similar to a Colombian empanada, and can be made with chicken or beef. Pastelitos are eaten as a snack or an appetizer and are common street food in El Salvador.

How to make Pastelitos de Carne

To make a pastelito de carne, you first have to make picadillo. The picadillo can truly be seasoned your way and with the vegetables you like. My mom typically makes pastelitos when she has leftover picadillo from the day before! You can find that mostly people add carrots and potatoes but you can add anything you want. You can find pastelitos with squash, guisquil (chayote), green beans, peas, etc. The second step is to make masa (dough) with white corn flour. This is the same masa we made for the pupusas with one additional ingredient: achiote (ground annatto). Once you have the picadillo and the masa, we are ready to assemble!

Note: you can do this with leftover picadillo!

This recipe is for a batch of 5-7 pastelitos

Picadillo ingredients:

• 1/4 Lb ground beef

• 1/2 - 1 cup of diced Potato and carrots OR your vegetables of choice

• 1 tsp Knorr beef bouillon

• 1/2 Culantro & Achiote sazón)

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic to taste

• Salt & pepper to taste

Masa ingredients:

• White corn flour

• Ground annatto (achiote) mainly for color

• Water

Frying ingredients:

• Vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Place a pan on medium heat

2. Season the ground beef with all the seasonings listen above, cover and set aside.

3. Peel and dice the vegetables into small cubes. The smallest you can, so they fit in the pastelito.

4. Add the beef to the pan and cook until brown. Once it's browned add in the vegetables, mix it well. Cover the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir it and taste test. Some vegetables absorb the seasoning so add more if needed. Cover again and let it cook until all the vegetables are tender. Set it aside and let it cool.

5. In a big bowl add 1 cup of flour, ground annatto, a pinch of salt and gradually begin to incorporate 1 cup of warm water as you knead. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it no longer sticks to you hands and is soft. This can also be done in a stand mixer with the kneading tool, let it knead for 5 minutes.

6. Place a frying pan on medium heat, once it's ready add enough oil to cover the pastelitos half way. Tip: I like to use a small frying pan so that I can use less oil.

7. Grab masa and make a thin handmade tortilla, add picadillo in the center, then with both hands close the tortilla in half towards the middle to make a half moon. Seal the edge of the pastelito by pressing it down with your fingers.

8. Place it in hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides or about 2-3 minutes. Once golden let them cool for about 2 minutes before serving.

Pastelitos can be served with a cabbage and tomato salad but I prefer mine with curtido and Salsa! Hope you enjoy this one, for more recipe videos follow me @flourishwithg on Instagram and TikTok.