Pastelitos (Small Pastries) from Argentina

Ingredients:

2.2 pounds all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons salt
3 sticks melted butter 
Lukewarm water
Dulce de membrillo (Quince jam – you can get it in the Mexican section of most grocery stores.)

Dough:
Put the flour on the counter forming a crown and add the salt. In the center, add 10 tablespoons of butter. Start mixing from the center and add water as needed to keep the dough moist.
Knead the dough for a little while and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

• Cut the dough in four even parts.

• Stretch one part on a floured surface with a rolling pin until it is very thin.

• Spread some melted butter on top and sprinkle with flour.

• Fold in half and stretch again.

• Repeat this process several times (I usually do it four times.). The dough will get easier to stretch as you add butter. You should try to keep the shape of the stretched dough as rectangular as possible as it will make it easier to cut out the squares.

After you’ve done this with all four pieces of dough, put the sheets in the fridge separated with wax paper for 30 minutes.

• Cut the sheets in 7-cm squares (you can choose the size you want but if they are too small it makes them harder to handle).

• Cut the quince in little cubes and heat it in the microwave for a minute or two and puree it with a fork.

• Put some quince onto one square, wet the rim of the square and close with another square positioned at 45 degrees with respect to the first one. Close the edges tight with your fingers.

Before frying the pastelitos, make syrup by boiling 2 cups of sugar with 2 cups of water. It takes a while for the syrup sticky enough.

After frying the pastelitos, dip them in the syrup.

Once all the pastelitos are ready, fry them in hot oil. You can also use lard, they’ll taste much better!