Don Diego's Folhados Romeu e Julieta

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 1 pack of puff pastry
• 1 can guava(s) – mass (goiabada) made from sugar and guava juice
• 200 g ricotta
• 1 egg(s) (separated into yolk and egg white)

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 35 minutes

Puff pastry with goiabada ricotta filling

Forget about Shakespeare! He called his essay on a tragic love story “Romeo and Juliet.” “Romeu e Julieta,” on the other hand, is the happy love affair of goiabada and Queijo Minas Frescal in the form of a puff pastry from Portugal and Brazil. Goiabada is the juice of the guava, boiled down with sugar, and is usually sold in boxes or cans as a firm jelly. Although goiabada is most popular in Portugal and Brazil, it is known throughout Latin America and can also be found in Spanish and Portuguese delicatessens in Germany. Queijo Minas Frescal, a fresh cheese specialty from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, is a bit more difficult. Fortunately, however, many Brazilians substitute the Minas cheese with ricotta because they like it even better… and I do too. So we’re on the safe side when preparing this – easy-to-make – pastry. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and place the store-bought puff pastry in the freezer for a maximum of 15 minutes to make it easier to handle. Separate the egg into two small bowls. Roll out the puff pastry and divide it so that you can cut out saucer-sized circles or divide it into squares. The circles are used to make the classic empanada version, and the squares are used to make the star or star-shaped version. Since the sky’s the limit, any other shape you find appropriate is also possible, or—to return to Shakespeare—”as you like it.” Empanada version: Place a spoonful of ricotta and a piece of goiabada on one side of the circle, brush the edge with egg white, fold over the free side of the circle, and press the edges together. Brush the surface with egg yolk. Star-shaped version: Cut all four corners of the square toward the center, but only halfway to a maximum of two-thirds. Leave an unbroken space in the center, where you place a spoonful of ricotta and a piece of goiabada, as above. Brush the dough with egg white. Now cover the center of the square with each of the two halves of the corners. If you fold every other corner half evenly, you get a star. Brush the surface of the pastry with egg yolk again. Both versions go into the oven for 12-15 minutes. The folhados taste best when they are slightly cooled and served fresh from the oven.