Empadinha de Camarão

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •18 small empadinha tins, about 2 1/2 inches wide
• •Wide skillet
• •Mixing bowl
• •Pastry brush
• •Baking sheet

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Put 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-size bits. Those butter bits melt in the oven and make the crust tender, so don't turn it into paste.

2. 2

   Bring it together

   Add the egg and 3 tablespoons ice water. Mix with a fork, then squeeze a handful. If it holds together, stop. If it crumbles dry, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Too much water makes a tough crust, and a gente wants tender, not stubborn.

   This dough is forgiving. If it cracks later, patch it with your fingers. Empadinha is pressed, not auditioning for a pastry school.
3. 3

   Rest the dough

   Divide the dough into a larger piece for the bases and a smaller piece for the lids. Flatten each into a disk, wrap, and chill for 20 minutes. Resting firms the butter and relaxes the flour, which means the dough presses cleanly instead of shrinking back like it has somewhere better to be.

4. 4

   Season the shrimp

   Pat the shrimp dry, then toss with the lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let it sit while you start the refogado, no longer than 15 minutes. The lime wakes up the shrimp, but too much time makes the surface tighten before it ever reaches the pan.

5. 5

   Build the refogado

   Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and see-through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, just until you smell it, then add the tomato and cook until it collapses and the pan looks juicy. This is where flavor starts, not in a packet.

6. 6

   Cook the shrimp

   Add the shrimp and black pepper. Cook, stirring, just until the shrimp turns pink and curls, 2 to 3 minutes. Stop there. Shrimp keeps cooking in the hot filling and again in the oven, and if you bully it now, it turns rubbery.

7. 7

   Thicken the filling

   Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over the shrimp mixture and stir for 1 minute, until no dry flour shows. Pour in the milk little by little, stirring the whole time, and cook until the filling is creamy and thick enough to leave a clear path when you drag the spoon across the pan. Thin filling leaks. Thick filling stays where you put it.

8. 8

   Finish and cool

   Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and cilantro, if using. Taste and add the remaining salt only if it needs it. Spread the filling on a plate and cool until barely warm. Hot filling melts the butter in the raw dough before baking, and then you lose the crumbly little crust you worked for.

9. 9

   Press the bases

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Pinch off walnut-size pieces of the larger dough disk and press them into 18 small empadinha tins, covering the bottom and sides in an even thin layer. Leave a small edge above the rim. Press, turn, patch. That's the whole skill.

10. 10

    Fill the pies

    Spoon the cooled shrimp filling into each shell, filling almost to the top but not mounding it. A generous spoonful is good. A mountain is trouble. The lid needs space to seal, or the filling escapes and glues itself to the tin.

11. 11

    Add the lids

    Roll or pat small pieces of the remaining dough into thin rounds, lay one over each tin, and press the edges to seal. Pinch off any extra dough. Brush the tops with the egg yolk mixture so they bake shiny and golden, the birthday-table color everyone recognizes.

12. 12

    Bake until golden

    Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are deep golden and the edges look set and dry. Let them sit in the tins for 10 minutes before unmolding. Straight from the oven they're fragile, like all of us when rushed. Give them a minute and they'll come out clean.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh shrimp when it smells clean and sweet, not fishy. If good fresh shrimp is expensive or tired-looking, frozen peeled shrimp is the honest shortcut. Thaw it in the fridge, dry it well, and accept that it may release a little more water.
• •No shrimp bouillon cube, no seafood powder. If the filling tastes flat, it needs a better refogado, enough salt, and maybe one more minute for the tomato to cook down. Powder is not a personality.
• •Make them small, but don't make yourself miserable. If your tins are a little bigger, use them and get fewer empadinhas. Receitas que funcionam bend to the kitchen you actually have.
• •Cool the filling before assembling. Warm filling makes the dough greasy before the oven can set it, and then the crust loses that sandy, crumbly bite.
• •Freeze baked empadinhas in a single layer, then bag them. Reheat from frozen at 350°F (175°C) until hot through and crisp at the edges, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made 2 days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before pressing.
• •The shrimp filling can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Use it cold or just barely cool, never hot, when filling the shells.
• •Assembled unbaked empadinhas can be frozen in the tins until firm, then stored in a bag for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen, adding 5 to 8 minutes.
• •Baked empadinhas keep 3 days in the fridge and reheat best in the oven, not the microwave, which softens the crust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 75g)