Day 116: Monaco and Barbajuans

Bonsoir, Raffies!

Welcome back!
Today we are going to Monaco and we are going to enjoy some traditional pastry: Barbajuans.
These fried pies come in two main varieties, barbajuans d'hiver and barbajuans d'été (a winter and a summer version).

Since I was curious, I decided to make both.
So here comes the winter version and the summer version, but first, the dough:

400g flour
1 dl olive oil
1 egg
125 g water
salt

Mix all the ingredients and work into a smooth dough. Wrap in cling filmand rest for an hour.

For the winter filling:

1kg pumpkin
300g leek
80g boiled rice
2 eggs
150g grated parmesan
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Cut and steam the pumpkin. Cut the leek into small pieces. Stir fry the leek with the olive oil and salt and pepper it. Now mash the pumpkin in a bowl, add the leek, the eggs and the parmesan and mix well.

For the summer filling:

1kg chard
150g leek
1 big onion
250g ricotta
50g parmesan
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Wash and remove all hard parts and threads from the chard. Boil them until soft. Drain and rinse from any remaining water. Thinly chop the onion and leek and stir fry in a pan with the olive oil. In a bowl, mix the chard, the leek, onions, ricotta, eggs and parmesan. Adjust with salt and pepper and mix well.

Now roll out the dough to a thin layer and cut out some round shapes. You can make them small like ravioli or slightly bigger. Fill the round shapes either with the summer filling or the winter one. Close well and make sure no filling come out of the edges. It add some flour to the working surface, if the dough sticks to the surface.

In a skillet, heat enough oil to deep fry. Now fry the packages you have just made until golden brown. Serve hot.

Personally, I preferred the summer version. But I must say that the Barbajuans were crispy and lovely.

Love,

Raffi