Txalupa Donostiarra

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12 small barquette moulds or mini tartlet tins
• •Baking tray
• •Wide sauté pan
• •Whisk
• •Grill or broiler

Instructions

1. 1

   Bake the boats

   Heat the oven to 200C. If using raw puff pastry, cut 12 ovals about 10 by 6cm and line lightly buttered barquette moulds or small tartlet tins. Prick the bases, brush the rims with beaten egg, chill for 10 minutes, then bake with baking beans or crumpled parchment weights for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and bake 5 to 7 minutes more, until crisp and pale gold. They will brown again later, so don't take them too dark now.

   If using ready baked pastry shells, skip the shaping and warm them for 3 minutes before filling so they crisp again.
2. 2

   Build the base

   Warm the olive oil in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a small pinch of the salt and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft, sweet, and only lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. This little sofrito, the slow onion base, is small, but it gives the cream something to stand on.

3. 3

   Cook mushrooms dry

   Raise the heat to medium-high, add the mushrooms, and cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring, until they give up their water, the liquid disappears, and the pieces start to darken at the edges. This is the step that saves the pastry. Add cream while the pan is wet and the txalupa slumps before it reaches the table.

4. 4

   Add prawns

   Add the chopped prawns and cook 60 to 90 seconds, just until they turn opaque at the edges. Pour in the txakoli and boil it hard for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pan is nearly dry again. The prawns will finish under the grill, so don't toughen them now.

5. 5

   Thicken the cream

   Drop the heat to medium. Add the butter and let it melt through the mushrooms and prawns, then scatter in the flour and stir for 1 minute so it loses its raw taste. Add the warm milk in three additions, stirring each time until smooth, then add the cream. Simmer 4 to 6 minutes, until the filling is thick enough that a spoon leaves a clear track through the pan. Season with the remaining salt, white pepper, and nutmeg if using, then stir in the parsley.

6. 6

   Fill and brown

   Heat the grill or broiler to high, or set the oven to 220C. Spoon the thick filling into the pastry boats, about 2 generous tablespoons in each, mounding it without flooding the edges. Mix the grated cheese with the breadcrumbs and cover the tops. Grill 2 to 3 minutes, or bake on the upper rack for 5 to 7 minutes, until the top is deep gold and browned hard in spots. Let them stand 2 minutes before serving so the filling settles and holds.

Chef Tips

• •Use raw prawns if you can. Cooked prawns turn rubbery by the time the txalupa is browned; if they're all you have, chop them and fold them in after the sauce thickens, then gratinate just long enough to colour the top.
• •Mushrooms must be cooked until dry. Button or cremini mushrooms are honest here when good setas are not in the market. What you cannot use is a watery pan and hope the pastry forgives you.
• •Idiazabal gives the Basque sheep-cheese note and browns well. Young Manchego works if that's what you can find, but it is drier and less smoky, so grate it finely and don't bury the filling under too much.
• •Ready-made puff-pastry barquettes are a good shortcut. Round vol-au-vent cases are less of a boat, sí, but they hold the filling and keep the method intact.
• •Serve these as soon as the top is browned, with txakoli if you have it. Its sharpness cuts the cream cleanly.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the pastry shells up to 24 hours ahead. Keep them unfilled at room temperature and re-crisp them for 3 minutes in a 180C oven before filling.
• •Make the mushroom-prawn filling up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate it covered. It will set thick, as it should; loosen with 1 tablespoon of milk only if it is too stiff to spoon.
• •Fill and top the txalupas up to 2 hours ahead and keep them chilled. Brown them just before serving, because finished pastry softens if it waits too long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)