This recipe is roughly based on the version served at Pigmeu, although because not everyone has access to pig hearts, we’ve gone with the more common pork shoulder.

If, after cutting the dough and making the pastries, you happen to have leftover filling, you can fold the pastry “scraps” into a new ball of dough and make a few more pastries, but working the dough this much will spread those pockets of fat, rendering the final product less flaky and crumbly.

Miguel Peres serves his pastéis de massa tenra with a dish of house-made fermented cabbage. You can serve yours plain, as a snack, as is the standard in Lisbon, or emulating Peres’s childhood meal, paired with arroz de cenoura, Portuguese carrot rice, and a green salad.

Makes 20 to 24 pastries For the filling

2 teaspoons olive oil
250g pork shoulder, cubed
½ small onion (around 50g), peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 small carrot (around 40g), peeled and diced
2 teaspoons flour
150ml beer
20g segment of Portuguese chouriço, casing removed, diced
1 teaspoon vinegar ½ teaspoon salt a few grinds of pepper

For the dough

550g flour
50g lard, melted
10g olive oil
10g salt
300g hot water

For frying lard or vegetable oil or a combination of both

Step One

Several days in advance, if desired, prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, heat half of the olive oil over high heat. Sear the pork, remove and set aside. Reduce heat to medium, add the remaining olive oil. When shimmering, add the onions, and sauté until transparent, around 2 minutes. Add the garlic and carrots, and sauté until the carrots are tender, around 2 minutes. Add the flour, stirring to combine and “toast” lightly, around 1 minute. Add the reserved pork and beer. Close the lid and allow the mixture to simmer until the pork is tender, around 1½ hours. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Step Two

Using an immersion blender, or in a blender or food processor, process the pork mixture, chouriço, vinegar, salt and pepper to the consistency of slightly coarse pâté. Remove to a sealed container and keep in the refrigerator until making the pastries.

Step Three

Several days in advance, if desired, prepare the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, lard, olive oil and salt. Use a large spoon to mix the ingredients. Add the hot water and, using your hands, shape the dough into a rough ball. Cover a surface with a sprinkling of flour, and shift the dough to this surface. Fold the dough on itself once or twice, sprinkling with additional flour if needed to prevent your hands from sticking, until it’s no longer too sticky to work with, and you have a relatively smooth ball (the idea here is not to knead the dough, but rather to ensure that the ingredients are combined and that it’s not too sticky to handle). Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp towel and leave to rest for 1 hour.

Step Four

Remove half of the dough, and place it on a lightly floured surface.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough in one layer, working to get it as thin as possible. Using a round pastry cutter 10cm in diameter, cut as many circles as possible, discarding the remaining pastry scraps. Add 1½ to 2 teaspoons of the reserved filling to the center of each circle. Using a bit of water, moisten half of the edge of each circle and fold the dough around the filling, creating a half moon shape, pressing with your fingers to ensure that the filling is sealed. Using a fork, create indentations on one side of the pastry. Remove the pastry to a tray lightly dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining ingredients; this should yield between 20 and 24 pastries, depending on how thin you were able to get your dough.

Step Five

If frying same-day, proceed to the next step. Otherwise, layer the pastries on sheets of waxed paper, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the freezer.

On the day of serving, fry the pastries:

Heat lard or oil to 170C. Add three or four pastries (if using frozen, there’s no need to defrost them) to the oil and deep-fry, flipping occasionally and basting with oil, working to maintain the oil at around 160C to 170C, until golden and crispy, around 5 minutes. Remove to a paper towel to drain excess oil. Remove to a serving dish and serve hot.