Sunday, July 15, 2007


Doesn't it look pretty?!!!

It sure does, and it couldn't be another way, as the recipe came from a kitchen filled with awesome goodies: Eliana's "Sabores da Lica"! See, I told you it was from a great place!
Every recipe I made from Eliana's came out delicious, and this one was no exception. This kind of savory pie is very popular in Brazil, and this one couldn't be more typical, as it is filled with hearts of palm, which I absolutely love!
Until a few months ago I wasn't able to find decent hearts of palm here where I live, the canned ones I found at the grocery store were just not as good as the one we have in Brazil. But now, thanks to Trader Joe's store (which I also love!), I can find yummy hearts of palm, which are both organic and from Brazil!
So I bought a couple of cans for my pantry and a few days latter I spotted this beauty at Eliana's blog, I just had to make it! Even more since the dough had another ingredient I adore: yogurt! Which, although you can't taste much, made the dough so moist and delicious that we could not stop commenting on it.
The pie was perfect, it came out beautiful and tasted even better than how it looked! The filling was creamy and delicious, and the crust was more than good. It was tender on the bottom and the very topping of my crisscross pattern was not just golden brown and delicious, but light and flaky as well.
A definite keeper in my kitchen, it was approved by all of us, including my Mom and my Sister that are here visiting these days! (And that explains why I have been a little absent from the blog lately... but it is a good reason, right?!) They saw my post in the blog and asked if I could make it sometime while they were here. Of course I already made it and we are now planning on making it again with a chicken filling. Ohhhh, I just can't wait!!
Thanks Eliana for this delicious treat!! (For the recipe in Portuguese, take a look here.)
Ana










Savory Hearts of Palm Pie with Yogurt Crust

Pastry dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick butter (150 g), room temperature
3/4 cups plain yogurt (180 g)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk

Filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (220 g) hearts of palm, chopped (Trader Joe's has a great organic one, from Brazil!!)
1/3 cup chopped green olives (more or less to your taste)
1/2 cup frozen peas
180 grams cream cheese (I used 6 of those Laughing Cow triangles)
1/2 chopped parsley
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the filling: heat olive oil in a large skillet, add onion, garlic and sautée for a few minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add the hearts of palm, peas, and olives. Taste, add salt and pepper as needed and et cook a couple minutes more. Add the cream cheese, the parsley and cook for another minute until all incorporated. Sprinkle the flour on the filling and stir until the filling is thick and creamy. Take off the heat, put filling in a big plate and let cool before using.

To make the dough: Put 2 cups of the flour, butter, yogurt, and salt in a bowl. Mix all together until it forms a smooth ball of dough. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour if necessary (I only needed 2 cups of flour both times I made the recipe...!), to make sure the dough is not too sticky.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.
Roll out half of dough into a circle between two sheets of plastic wrap. Cover the bottom and sides of a 9-inch (22 cm) pie pan with removable bottom. Add filling and spread it evenly.
Roll out remaining dough and cover the pie. Pinch the sides to it sticks together and doesn't open as it bake (you can also use egg whites as a glue to stick the two parts of dough together). Brush top with egg yolk and bake at 350 F for about 35 minutes, or until top is golden.

Note: for this pie I tried to make the pie as pretty as Eliana's, so I rolled out the second half of dough, cut into strips, and arranged them in a crisscross pattern. We really liked the result and I was proud with my pretty little pie!!
(This recipe was adapted from Eliana's post, which originally got the recipe from "Palmirinha Onofre").

14 comments:

Karen said...

Que delícia, eu também quero fazer essa receita!

(E o seu pai, ainda não foi desta vez que ele subiu no avião?)

Eli said...

Aí meu Deus!!! Estou nas nuvens em ver uma receitinha minha aqui!! Que luxo ficou sua torta!! Linda!!
Ah eu fiz a tortinha de morangos pra levar pra Márcia do Fouet, no nosso encontro, ela e o esposo amaram!! :)
Depois vou publicar a foto e a receita.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Ana, it looks scrumptious!

I wish I could take a bite, I love hearts of palm!

Cláudia said...

Ana, demais, e eu tenho preguiça de fazer uma torta dessas, acho que dá muito trabalho e por isso mesmo tenho mais vontade ainda de comer. Manda aquele prato com os tomatinhos para mim, vai?
bjs

Anonymous said...

Ana, maravilhosa a torta, e como você disse, se veio da Lica não dá para dar errado! Vou fazer esta semana!!!!
Um beijo grande!

www.mangiachetefabene.wordpress.com

Laurinha said...

Que linda ficou sua torta! E com certeza, deliciosa!
Beijinhos,

Ashley said...

this sounds wonderful! i've only had hearts of palm a few times, and haven't ever cooked with them. it's good to know that the ones in the regular grocery store might not be too great. great post!

Fer Guimaraes Rosa said...

Ana, que torta LINDA!!! acho que vou fazer para um jantar no sabado. Vou ter convidados veggies. Espero que voce esteja aproveitando muito as suas visitas queridas. Beijo grande!

Camila L said...

Receita da Lica é sucesso na certa!

Cris said...

Ana ficou um luxo só, linda mesmo! O sabor, nem me fale, de palmito, eu comeria um bom pedaço aí com você. Menina, acho que o marido vai para US, mas não para suas bandas... Houston...

semente de sésamo said...

Também estou de olho nessa receita!

Cinara said...

No, it doesn't look pretty, Ana. It looks wonderful! Gorgeous! Ready to be published on a gourmet magazine! ;o) I had already complimented Eliana on her pie, and yours is nothing less than perfect. Have a great weekend, sweetie!

Leticia said...

Ana,

Que torta linda. Eu faco sempre a minha receita de empadao de camarao com hearts of palm. Vou fazer a sua receita da proxima vez.

Beijos, Leticia

Cris said...

Wonderful flavor! Made it this weekend and no left-overs. The one thing I had to smudge on was the Tomatoes. It called for it in the recipe but it wasn't in the ingrediants-- how much should go in? It still turned out great! Loved the crust will us it for a chicken pot-pie.