Serves     12

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ large green bell pepper, diced fine
1 small ripe tomato diced fine
1 tsp. lime juice (juice of ½ lime)
1 tsp. Adobo seasoning salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. hot sauce
1/4 tsp. thyme or 1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 lb. ground beef
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water

Directions

Preheat oven at 375°. Over medium heat, heat oil in a skillet or saucepan. Add onions, garlic, peppers and tomato in that order, giving each separate ingredient about a minute to cook before adding the next ingredient. Add the seasonings. Add the meat and simmer until meat is tender and any water is cooked away. I used grass-fed beef so there was no fat in my pan, but if you use supermarket ground beef you may want to spoon off any fat that is evident.

Stirring, chopping and mashing is an important step here – you want the meat mixture to be pretty finely chopped so it will stick together better and not crumble apart when you make the filled turnovers. I pull out my secret weapon here, my food processor. When my meat was cooked, I threw it into the processor, and three quick pulses made short work of this step making for a finely ground meat mixture. Make sure not to turn it into a puree though and to thoroughly chill the meat before proceeding to the filling step.

Take the puff pastry out of the package and let it defrost for 20 minutes while the meat is cooling. There’s no need for further rolling of the dough with a rolling pin, it is ready to be used as is. Unfold the sheet and place the long edge in front of you. Cut it into three strips, and then cut the strips in half, for six squares. I chose to fold my turnovers into triangles, but you can make squares if you like. Place some filling at the bottom portion of the triangle, and wet the two upper edges of the dough with a finger dipped in water. Pull the dough over the meat and crimp the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Place the triangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash, this will give them that nice golden color. Bake at 350-375 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown in color and slightly bubbling at the edges.

Country:
Haiti


Notes and Instructions

Photo credit: Linda McElroy

Recipe contribution from Linda McElroy, adapted from: http://www.haitian-recipes.com/recipes/96_haitian-pate-beef-patties.html