This is such a great recipe, especially for when you have leftover meat. When I cook chicken breast, I normally cook some spare ones for these types of dishes requiring shredded cooked meat. This recipe is inspired in a Brazilian favourite party food called ’empadinha’, which is a savoury finger food common in buffets etc. To make it into small units, you can follow the same procedure below but use mince pie trays to form the miniature pies. It is very adaptable and you can use pretty much any idea you have for a pie filling, as long as it is not very wet. I photographed a big version (on the right) and some mini-ones (which bake really well) too. See below. They were left uncovered with no ‘pastry topping’ in the pictures to show the filling. There are two options for the ‘pastry’: one made with sweet potato, which for some people may be a bit too sweet, and another one with cauliflower, which is my personal favourite. I hope you will make them many times to enjoy. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients for the pretend pastry type 1 – with sweet potato
(for the alternative pastry type 2 – with cauliflower – check ingredients at the end)
1 sweet potato – cooked until soft (between 200-350g weight)
50g buckwheat flour
50g milled flaxseeds or millet flakes
200g Jerusalem artichokes (or cauliflower) – cooked until soft
200g cannellini beans – cooked until soft and drained
3 eggs
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
Salt and oregano to taste
For the filling:
2 chicken breasts (cooked in water with salt, herbs and spices or any other cooked meat leftover from previous meal)
1 onion (finely minced)
1 ripe tomato (finely chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (mashed or minced)
Thyme
Fresh coriander and fresh parsley to taste (finely chopped)
Olives (sliced and stones discarded)
1 tin of hearts of palm – drained (optional) and/or artichoke hearts (optional)
Salt and black pepper to season
Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Shred or finely chop the meat and reserve. In a saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic for a few minutes in low heat, then add the tomato and olives and cover with a lid. Simmer in low heat until tomato is looking overcooked and disintegrating. Add the rest of the ingredients (including the meat) and simmer for a another minute or two. Turn off the heat and reserve.
Prepare the pretend pastry: mash up the vegetables and mix all the ingredients to an even mixture (or use a food processor). It should look and feel much softer than actual pastry, but don’t worry about that. Grease well a baking dish (or use mince-pie trays to make mini pies). With the help of a spoon, spread the ‘pastry’ mixture on the dish forming a depression in the middle, where the filling should seat. It will be on the soft side but use the spoon to help spread the mixture around the greased baking dish. Leave some of the pastry for spreading on top. Fill the gaps with the chicken filling and cover the top with the rest of the ‘pastry mixture’. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the pastry dough feels firm and starts to golden. Serve accompanied with salad or steamed vegetables. Avoid using very deep oven dishes as the ‘pastry mixture’ might not cook through if very thick.
Type 2 pastry with cauliflower: the procedure is the same but use instead for the pastry:
1 whole cauliflower (quartered and cooked to an ‘al dente’ consistency)
400g canellini beans (cooked and drained)
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp olive oil
150g buckwheat flour (optional)
2 eggs
Salt & pepper to taste
From colour to taste it will resemble real pastry even more. I hope you try it! It won’t disappoint.
Bom apetite!