The authentic way to prepare these is to use fresh banana leaves which can be softened by steaming for a few minutes. If you don’t have banana leaves, use kitchen foil instead. Pastelles should be served hot. These ingredients make 12 to 15 pastelles. The quantities are given in the American fashion.
For the pastry: two cups of cornmeal, three cups of warm water, half a cup of butter, one and a half teaspoonfuls of salt.
For the filling: 450g of chopped meat (beef, chicken, whatever is available), two onions (finely chopped), two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, plenty of thyme and chives (chopped), two pimentos (chopped), four garlic cloves (crushed), a bit of celery (chopped), half a Congo pepper (deseeded and chopped – optional, as you may not find this type of pepper here), freshly ground black pepper, salt, a quarter of a cup of raisins, a quarter of a cup of tomato sauce, four tablespoonfuls of capers, three tablespoonfuls of stuffed olives (sliced).
The filling can be bulked up with chopped potatoes and carrots. For an extra spicy taste, add chopped fresh ginger.
First, make the dough. Beat the cornmeal, butter and salt together in a food processor. Add a little water slowly while continuing to beat the mixture until it forms dough. It should be soft and pliable, not hard and tough.
Now, make the filling. Season the chopped meat with salt and pepper and stir in the chives and some thyme. Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté them until slightly soft. Add the pimentos and some more chives, and check whether the mixture needs more salt and pepper. Mix in some more thyme if necessary, reserving a little for later. Add the meat to the pan and brown it. Stir in the tomato sauce, cover the pan and leave it to simmer gently over low heat for 15 minutes. Stir in the capers, olives and raisins, and cook for another five minutes, then check before adding more salt and pepper. Stir in a bit more thyme. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool before making up the pastilles.
Divide the dough into 12 to15 pieces. Cover them with a damp cloth, to stop them drying out. Make up each pastille completely before starting on the next one, keeping the dough covered with the damp cloth. Press a piece of dough onto a square of banana leaf or kitchen foil and spread it into a 15cm square. The dough should be thin not thick. Put two tablespoonfuls of filling into the middle of the dough, bring the edges of the pastry together and seal them by pressing them together with damp fingertips. You can use the Cornish-pasty shape, which is easiest.
Wrap a piece of banana leaf or foil neatly around the pastelle. If you use leaves, you’ll have to tie them with kitchen string to stop them opening during cooking.
The pastelles are not baked, but steamed, like Chinese dumplings. If you don’t have a steam, place them in a colander over a pan of steadily boiling water and steam them for 45 minutes. Keep topping the pan with boiling water as it evaporates quickly when at a rolling boil.