One of the most intriguing ingredients in this month's Argentinian-themed Kitchen Trotter box was Dulce de Batata, a traditional sweet potato paste. It has a firm but wobbly texture like set jam and can be eaten with cheese or in a tart. I had a nibble and it reminded me of a less sweet version of fruit jelly, such as the little orange and lemon jelly slices that you get at Christmas. This Pasta Frola tart, which has a shortbread-like crust, could also be made with quince jelly for another traditional option. It reminds me very much of a South American take on Linzertorte.
Pasta Frola with Dulce de Batata
ingredients :
half a tub of Dulce de Batata
220g flour
200g butter
75g sugar
1 egg
1tbsp lime juice/zest
2tbsp cornflour (optional)
Start by creaming together the butter and sugar, along with the lime juice/zest.
Break in the egg and mix in with a fork.
Switch to a wooden spoon and gradually mix in the flour to create a soft dough. Form into a ball in the bowl and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°. Remove a handful of dough and roll out the rest on a floured surface. Use to line a greased and floured cake tin. Cut off any excess and add to the reserved portion.
Roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips.
Mash the dulce de batata in a bowl, mixing in some cornflour if you want a creamier, less runny filling. (I missed it out altogether.) The original recipe said to use 2-3tbsp but that didn't even cover the base so I used half of the tub - it's down to personal taste.
Use the strips of dough to create a cross-cross pattern on top.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot. My pastry strips ended up spreading out so that they almost covered the surface so you might want to use thinner and more widely spaced out strips.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes then serve, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you want an extra decadent dessert. I liked it and the Madhouse kids thought it was "nice but a bit weird" until I told them it was sweet potato inside, then they suddenly decided they didn't like it ! It's a bit like pumpkin pie filling really.
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If you want to try some more Argentinian recipes, how about Humitas?
If you want to try some more Argentinian recipes, how about Humitas?
What an interesting ingredient, love the look of the finished product thought
ReplyDeletecan you buy it in a supermarket ?
ReplyDeletePossibly, in the imports section. Otherwise you could use quince jam instead.
DeleteThat's another ingredient that I'll have to find. The pie looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy
ReplyDeletea strange recipe but actually looks very nice definitely an acquired taste but you never know the taste would probably surprise us
ReplyDeleteMargaret Clarkson
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fascinating, never heard of it before.