The Catalan Table“Panades de la Conca”
Traditional Conca pastries with a crispy crust made of strong flour and lard, filled with a succulent and flavorful filling inside.
Ingredients
Servings:
4
Ingredients
- 300 gstrong flour
- 125 glard
- 125 mllukewarm water
- 10 gfresh compressed yeast from Paris
- 75 mlbrandy or white wine
- Stuffing ingredients
- 600 gfresh spinach
- 100 gdrained canned tuna
- 1 clovegarlic
- 25 gpine nuts
- 50 gtoasted almonds
- salt
- ground black pepper
Nutritional Information
Per Serving (Approx.)
Calories
795 kcal
Protein
24 g
Fat
43 g
Carbohydrates
75 g
Disclaimer: These values are estimates based on ingredient types and may not be precise.
Step-by-step Guide
Pastry Dough for the Panada
- Dissolve the yeast in a bit of warm water (approximately 35-40 °C) to ensure it dissolves well.
- Form a volcano with the flour on the kitchen counter, leaving a space in the center.
- In the center of the volcano, add the crumbled yeast, lard, brandy, and a teaspoon of salt. Knead everything together until you obtain a homogeneous dough.
- If necessary, gradually add a little more warm water until the dough has a smooth and manageable texture.
- Work the dough thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes until it no longer sticks to your hands.
- Allow it to rest in a bowl covered with a clean cloth in a location with a mild room temperature (about 25 °C) until it doubles its initial volume, approximately for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Stuffed
- Peel and finely chop the roasted almonds with a knife or in a food processor.
- Finely chop the garlic clove.
- Flake the tuna into small pieces with a fork.
- Wash and thoroughly clean the spinach, ensuring any dirt is removed. Slice them into very thin julienne strips.
- In a medium heat paella, lightly sauté the chopped garlic for 1-2 minutes until golden. Next, add the chopped spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes until they have reduced in volume.
- Add the pine nuts, chopped almonds, and flaked tuna to the spinach. Cook for an additional 2 minutes while stirring to thoroughly combine all the ingredients. Then, remove from heat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, adjusting the quantity according to personal preferences.
Assemble the Panades
- Preheat the oven to 180°C for about 10 minutes to ensure it reaches the correct temperature before baking.
- Roll out the pastry for the empanada with a rolling pin until you achieve a very thin sheet, approximately 2 mm thick, ensuring it is not too thick.
- Mark the dough circles on the rolled-out sheet using a round cutter, such as a glass, pressing lightly to define the size.
- Cut out the dough circles following the marks you made previously, trying to ensure they are all the same size for even cooking.
- With the leftover dough, knead it finely again, let it rest for about 10 minutes at room temperature, and roll it out once more with the rolling pin until you have another thin sheet.
- Place the filling in the center of each dough circle, making sure it doesn't reach the edges, then fold the pastry over itself to form a half-moon or a full circle.
- Press the edges of the dough with your fingers, and then mark them with a fork to ensure they do not open during cooking.
- Brush the pastries on top with melted butter or lard, ensuring an even coating to give them a golden color in the oven.
- Bake the pastries at 180°C for approximately 30 minutes, or until they are golden and cooked through. Check halfway through to ensure they are baking evenly.
Recommendations & Tricks
- Ensure the lard is at room temperature before mixing it with the flour; this way it will integrate better and you'll achieve a more homogeneous dough.
- Dissolve the yeast in a bit of warm water and let it rest for a few minutes before adding it to the other ingredients, to ensure it is well activated and provides good volume to the dough.
- When kneading the dough, do so for at least 10 minutes to develop the gluten in the flour and achieve a more elastic and workable texture.