Pastellilos (pas-te-lee-joes)

These yummy appetizers look like mini empanadas, but they are called pastellilos! My family makes these for every celebration or get together and serve with pico de gallo. Some variations include green olives or a hardboiled egg, but this is my family’s “Indo-Dominican fusion” version.

View Instructions

Servings

2-3 dozen

Good For:

Appetizer 

Introduction

By: Sadhna Morato-Lindvall

We like spicy food so we often substitute 2-3 diced serrano peppers for bell pepper in the sofrito. We almost always use wonton wrappers. You can sometimes find empanada wrappers frozen at the grocery store in the U.S. that can be used. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Filling:

  • 1 pound ground beef

Sofrito:

  • 2-3 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 box of raisins
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Dough: (homemade pastelillo dough recipe ingredients)

  • 3 1/2 cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup of water

Shortcut: use wonton wrappers for smaller, crispier pastellilos. You can make about 3 dozen this way.

Oil for frying (deep fry or pan fry).

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

Make breading/dough ahead of time by mixing all ingredients together. Kneed into a large “dough ball”, set aside (I sometimes save extra dough for future apps in the fridge or freezer).

Step 2

To make the filling:
Make the sofrito by heating the olive oil on medium and cook onion and garlic until fragrant (couple minutes).
Add tomatoes and green peppers. Cook on medium until the tomatoes “melt” more into a sauce.
Brown the ground beef in the sauce and let simmer; salt and pepper to taste.
Add box of raisins last, stir and cover, let cool.

Step 3

To make the pastellilos, take a pinch of dough (@ 3-4 inches in diameter circle), and roll it out to a thin circle (maybe 1/8 in thick– like a mini pie). Fill a tablespoon or less of filling in each dough circle. Fold the circle of dough in half and press edges with a fork (as you would with a pie crust) to seal the edges together. Try not to overfill, or the pastries will splatter when fried.

Note: You can assemble in advance to fry later on the same day.

Step 4

When ready to fry, either use a deep fryer or pan fry with oil at medium heat, about 3-4 minutes per side (until golden-brown). Note: if the sealing isn’t done well, you may get splatter from the filling.

Step 5

Serve warm with homemade pico de gallo (1 tomato, 1/2 onion, 1 TB cilantro, lime and 2-TB green pepper or 1 serrano pepper, all diced and combined, salt and pepper to taste).