This
is our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. We usually eat
it with a mixed green salad and afterwards have a light
dessert. You can prepare the dough and the filling ahead
of time, so you can finish the patty in the evening.
Instead of preparing the dough yourself, you can buy
phyllo dough or puff pastry.
I found this recipe in a Swiss cook book authored by
Betty Bossi.
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 cups flour
10 ounces butter or margarine
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Quark (a European-style yogurt cheese,
available in health food sections) or Ricotta
3-4 tablespoons water
1 egg for coating
|
Filling:
1.1 pound ground beef
1/3 pound bread, 2 days old, preferably firmer
Italian-style or French bread
1 ¼ cup hot beef bouillon
1 tablespoon oil
¼ pound bacon
1 medium onion
1 glove of garlic
½ bunch parsley
1/3 cup of dry red wine
1 egg
3 tablespoons cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ - 1 teaspoon crushed bay laurel
|
Dough
Chef
One:
Mix flour with salt, and cut butter into the
mixture.
Put into a food processor, or rub it between your hands
until the mixture becomes crumbly.
Chef
Two:
Add water and Quark or Ricotta cheese to the
flour mixture.
Chef
One:
Mix until dough holds together.
Shape it into a ball and wrap it with aluminum foil
or cling wrap and chill for ½ hour.
Chef
Two:
Cover 12 inch cooking sheet with parchment paper,
grease with butter, and set aside.
Filling
Chef
One:
Prepare bouillon from cube or use from a can.
Carefully remove the crust from the bread and discard.
Slice bread, then tear it into small pieces, and place
the pieces in a bowl.
Add the hot bouillon, mix well, and put aside for later
use.
Chef
Two:
Heat oil in a skillet.
Cut bacon slices into small bits.
Add to skillet and fry, add ground beef and keep stirring
while Chef One adds all the other ingredients.
Chef
One:
Cut onion into small pieces and add to meat;
press and add garlic, chop and add the parsley; add
the bread mixture; add red wine.
Chef
Two:
Stir until the red wine is reduced by one-half.
Pour the mixture in a bowl and let cool slightly before
you add the remaining ingredients.
Mix well.
Chef
One:
Rinse an 8-inch diameter bowl with cold water
and slightly press in the mixture. Rinse a flat serving
plate with cold water and slide the mixture from the
bowl onto the plate.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees.
Putting it all together
Chef
Two:
Sprinkle a wooden or marble surface with flour.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll them
out into two rounds of about 12 inches in diameter.
Cut about 1 inch off the edge of one, set aside for
the decoration, then move the remaining piece of dough
onto the prepared baking sheet.
Chef
One:
Spread about 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs in
the middle of the dough on the baking sheet, making
a circle of about 8 inches in diameter.
Slide the meat mixture onto the bread crumbs.
Coat the visible dough with egg white.
Chef
Two:
Cut a ¾ inch size hole in the middle of the
remaining piece of dough, then cover the meat mixture
with it.
Press the edges of the dough (patty) rounds together.
Roll the joined edges of the patty up and seal with
a fork.
Chef
One:
Use the leftover dough to cut out stars, and
use egg white to glue them onto the patty.
Chef
Two:
Beat
the egg yolk with some cream and coat the patty evenly.
Place into the oven (second shelf from the bottom)
and bake for 40 minutes. If the patty gets too dark,
cover it during the last few minutes with aluminum
foil. Let the juices settle for a few minutes before
serving.
You might pair this dish with a glass of red wine.
Bon Appetit!
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