Uruguay: Pascualina Spinach Pie with Chorizo Rice

Uraguay is a country that most people living outside Latin America probably don’t know much about. Famed for being the birth place of  Tango, Uruguay is known as the ‘Switzerland of Latin America’ due to its economic prosperity and commitment to social justice. Located east of Argentina and south of Brazil, Uruguay became its own country in 1828 after a four-way struggle for independence over several centuries from Portugal and Spain, and later Argentina and Brazil. 

Uruguay has  a rich, fusion cuisine has that evolved around colonisation, with dominant European cooking techniques married to more subtle Amerindian  food traditions and ingredients. Uruguayan gastronomy  melds food practices from several European countries, especially those from the Mediterranean. There are strong influences from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France, with Spanish cooking methods being the strongest. General culinary trends are also influenced by other Latin countries, especially Argentina.

 

Our Uruguayan Menu included

Pascualina Spinach Pie 

with 

Chorizo Rice

  

PASCUALINA SPINACH PIE

 Ingredients:

·      2 to 4 sheets Short Pastry

·      2 cups cooked spinach, squeezed dry and chopped finely

·      1 large onion, diced finely

·      1 sweat red bell pepper (capsicum), diced finely

·      ½ cup ricotta cheese

·      180 gm parmesan cheese

·      7 eggs

·      1 clove garlic crushed

·      1 tbs olive oil

·      A little extra olive oil to coat the baking pan

·      1 tbs plain flour

·      1 tsp salt

·      ¼ tsp nutmeg powder

·      1 tsp sugar 

Method:

1.    Sauté onion in olive oil until it turns transparent

2.    Add garlic, bell pepper and sauté a little then set aside to cool

3.    Combine the cheeses, spinach, salt, nutmeg, flour and mix well

4.    Beat 1 egg. Add most of it to the stage 3 mixture but save a little to brush the top of the pie

5.    Take a deep sided spring form cake tin or similar round pan that is about 5 cm deep and lightly oil across the bottom and the sides 

6.     Line the bottom and sides of the pan with pastry

7.    Pour the spinach mixture into the pan and smooth down the top

8.    Make 6 evenly spaced holes in the spinach near to the edge of the pastry and crack an egg into each one

9.    Cover the pie with a short crust pastry top

10.                  Take the edges of the bottom layer of pastry and the top layer together and roll up tightly together to make a seam

11.                  Now put ‘breathing holes in the top of the pastry. Use a wooden skewer or similar to make a small hole in the middle of the pastry and 6 more holes that approximately sit above where the raw eggs are 

12.                  Brush the top of the pie with the reserved beaten egg and sprinkle on the sugar

13.                  Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C for 50 minutes or until golden

14.                  Let the pie cool a tittle outside the oven before opening the sping fold tin

 

This is a Q-Zine original recipe created from several original recipes found at:

http://www.explore-uruguay.com/pascualina-recipe.html#.Xq4eey1L3-Y

http://www.explore-uruguay.com/uruguay-food-recipes.html

https://www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk/travel-inspiration/food-and-drink/pascualina-uruguayan-egg-and-spinich-pie

https://tasteofuruguay.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/pascualina/

http://www.uruguayanfood.com/pascualina-recipe.htm

 

CHORIZO RICE  - GUISO DE ARROZ 

Ingredients:

·      2 cups long grain rice

·      4 cups beef/vegetable stock

·      500 gm beef, ground

·      80 gm chorizo bacon, diced

·      3 large tomatoes, diced

·      1 onion, chopped

·      1 garlic clove, crushed

·      2 potatoes, peeled and diced small

·      1 carrot, peeled and diced small

·      2 bay leaves

·      1 tsp salt

·      ¼ tsp pepper powder

·      1 tsp olive oil 

Method:

1.     Take a large pot that has a well-fitting lid

2.     Add the oil and onion and cook on medium heat until glazed

3.     Add garlic and sauté a little

4.     Add chorizo and brown a little

5.     Add ground beef, stir and cook for about 5 minutes until brown

6.     Add carrots, potatoes and tomato and cook a bit more, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes until tomato begins to cook down

7.     Add salt, pepper, bay leaves and rice and mix all together

8.     Add stock and bring to boil, stirring occasionally to prevent bottom from sticking

9.     Keep cooking on simmer until potato is half cooked

10.  Add a cup of water, stir well and bring back to boil

11.  Lower heat to lowest setting, put lid on and cook slowly for 20 minutes.

12.  Turn heat off and do not remove lid until ready to serve

This is a Q-Zine original recipe created from several original recipes found at:

https://www.food.com/recipe/rice-uruguayan-8300

http://vickstercooks.blogspot.com/2009/09/guiso-de-arroz.html

http://www.uruguayanfood.com/rice-with-beef-stew-recipe.htm