Name: Puff Pastry Meat Cake Filled with Cheese and Vegetables
Prep time: 80 min
Cook time: 40 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Mexicana
Ingredients: 2 cups bacon, in small cubes, for the filling; 1/2 cups onion, finely chopped, for the filling; 1 cup carrot, in cubes, for the filling; 1/4 cups celery, finely chopped, for the filling; 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped, for the filling; 1 cup tomato, in cubes, seedless, for the filling; 2 1/2 cups ground beef, for the filling; 2 eggs, for the filling; 1 cup breadcrumbs, for the filling; 1 tablespoon dried thyme, for the filling; 1 tablespoon oregano, for the filling; 1/4 cups parsley, for the filling; 1/4 cups pecans, chopped, for the filling; 1/4 cups cranberries, for the filling; salt, for the filling; pepper, for the filling; 500 grams puff pastry; flour, for rolling out; 2 packages Caperucita® sliced manchego cheese; 1 egg, for brushing; salad, for serving

Preparation

40 mins

Low

In a large, hot skillet, fry the bacon for 5 minutes; it is not necessary to use oil as it will release enough fat. Once fried, remove the bacon from the skillet and drain it on absorbent paper or a strainer with a bowl underneath. Let it cool. In the same fat from the bacon, sauté the onion until it becomes shiny. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and tomato and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, let cool, and mix with the cooled bacon. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef with the vegetables and the cooled fried bacon. Add the egg, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano, parsley, pecans, and cranberries; season with salt and pepper and combine all ingredients until you achieve a manageable consistency. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Roll out the puff pastry on a flat, floured surface until you get a large rectangle 3 mm thick. Place sliced Caperucita® Manchego Cheese in the center of this rectangle and on top of it, the meat mixture; shape it into a cylinder with your hands, flatten it a bit, and cover with more sliced Caperucita® Manchego Cheese. Once the filling is placed, make four diagonal cuts at the corners of the pastry so that the puff pastry has flaps like an envelope. Close the roll starting with the shorter sides and then with the longer ones; to do this, you should brush the puff pastry where you will close it; wrap until you achieve the shape of a roll. Then, turn the roll over so the smoothest side is on top and place it on a previously greased baking tray. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. To make the decoration, roll out a rectangle of puff pastry the length of the roll, wide enough to cover it and with a thickness of 3 mm. With a knife or the tip of a spoon, make small cuts no longer than half a centimeter long until the rectangle is covered, imagining that you have made an entire sheet of small vertical lines. Remove the roll from refrigeration, brush with egg, and cover with the rectangle of puff pastry that you cut in the previous step. When placing the puff pastry decoration, you will notice that the cuts create a simple yet pleasant pattern. Brush again with egg and refrigerate for 10 more minutes. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 200 °C. Remove from the oven, slice, and serve with salad.