"Rissol", a Portuguese Classic

Have you ever had that feeling about a particular food that you love but whose recipe you imagine to be so difficult that you can´t picture yourself doing it, ever?

That was my feeling towards the rissoes! These sort of snacks are a big Portuguese classic, made with dough and a filling, which are very accessible at any supermarket, café or restaurant. Plus, they are super cheap. So what could possibly trigger me to learn the recipe? Right, I know the answer... living abroad!

I can´t say the rissoes are the easiest thing in the world to do, but they were not that difficult either! The issue here is the time, as it takes about 2h to 3h to prepare them. The good news is that rissoes are the type of thing you make in big quantities, freeze and cook in 5 minutes whenever you want (they are supposed to be deep fried while they are still frozen).

However, I must confess the amazing machine really came in handy and the dough took 5 minutes when it can take at least 30 minutes. How can you not love an appliance like this?

For this post, lots of photos to illustrate the different stages.

Filling

We got started with the filling and used the following ingredients:

- 1 chopped onion
- minced pork and chicken - about 400 g (the beef and shrimp are more traditional flavors)
- 1 to 2 chopped tomatoes + a bit of tomato paste
- 1/4 of chopped yellow pepper
- Chicken stock
- Coriander
- Pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg
- Bechamel sauce

Preparing the filling is easy and all you have to do is to prepare a simple stew with these ingredients.

First, brown the onion with a bit of olive oil and once it gets translucent, add the meet.

Then, add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, the coriander, the yellow pepper, all the seasoning, as well as some chicken stock. Let it cook for about 20 minutes.

Prepare the bechamel sauce (recipe on a previous post) and pour it into the pan. Three more minutes and the filling is done.

Dough

To make the dough, we used the thermomix, which was extremely helpful!

This recipe comes with the appliance´s cookbook, so I´m not really sure if the ingredients and the result would be exactly the same if I was to do it by myself. Anyway, here are the ingredients:

- 500 g of flour
- 500 g of warm water
- 60 g of butter
- 10 g of olive oil
- Pinch of of salt

The dough was ready in 5 minutes and we worked it while it was still warm. It´s easier.

Shaping the Rissol

The final stage is the toughest, as it takes time. With the dosages proposed, you´ll get about 60 rissois.

With a rolling pin flatten the pastry until it gets thin and draw small circles with a glass or mug. Then, put a spoon of the filling on the dough and fold it, without pressing. To cut the excess of dough and get a perfect shape, use the glass again.

With a fork, press the rim of the rissol and they are ready to be breaded with egg and breadcrumbs and frozen.

Finally, the process is over and the fun part starts... eating! Just fry them while they are still frozen in hot oil for about 5 minutes and they are ready to be enjoyed. It´s a flavorful combination between crispy and moist. You´ll love it!

Like the croquete, the rissol is usually seen in parties and events in general as they are so easy to eat with the hand. But they also go very well with rice and make a great meal.

For me, having this delicacy for the first time in so long, it´s really like being home :)