Viseu Bean Pastries — Henrique Sá Pessoa's Home Version
This is the home interpretation published by chef Henrique Sá Pessoa on 24Kitchen. It uses bought puff pastry, encloses the filling in small turnovers and adds lemon, butter and walnuts. It is not the production method documented by DGADR for Pastel de Feijão de Viseu, which describes margarine-laminated pastry, a scalloped oval form and an open filling. Keeping those records separate prevents a television adaptation from being presented as the city's exclusive or official formula.
- Yields
- Yield not stated
- Prep
- Total preparation time not stated; includes cooling the cream
- Cook
- 5 min for the syrup, 5–7 min to thicken the cream and 10–15 min baking
Ingredients
- 300 g / 10.6 oz Cooked white beans
- 200 ml / 6.8 fl oz Water for the syrup
- 100 g / 3.5 oz Sugar for the syrup
- 6 Egg yolks for the cream
- 1; use 1 tsp zest Lemon
- 30 g / 1.1 oz Butter for the filling
- 2 packages; weight and dimensions not stated Bought puff pastry
- as needed Walnuts for finishing
- additional quantity not stated Egg yolk for brushing
- as needed; omitted from the original ingredient list but required by the method Icing sugar for serving
Method
Heat the oven to 185°C / 365°F and prepare a baking tray with parchment.
Bring the 200 ml water and 100 g sugar to the boil and cook for 5 minutes to make a syrup.
Rinse and drain the 300 g cooked white beans and blend them into a purée.
Whisk the six yolks lightly, then slowly pour in the hot syrup in a thin stream while whisking continuously so the eggs do not curdle.
Return the cream to the saucepan and cook over low heat for 5–7 minutes, stirring continuously, until thick. Cool it in a bowl set over ice water or leave it to reach a suitable filling temperature naturally.
Mix the bean purée into the yolk cream, then add the 30 g butter and one teaspoon lemon zest.
Lay out the puff-pastry rectangles. Place generous portions of cream along the pastry, fold the remaining pastry over the filling, cut out the turnovers with a cutter or knife and seal the edges carefully.
Brush with yolk, chop the walnuts and scatter them over the pastries. The source calls for yolk at this stage but publishes no additional quantity.
Bake on the parchment for 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve dusted with icing sugar.
Sources for this recipe
The quantities and method were checked against the references below. Family recipes may vary; where no single official formula exists, we present a representative practical version and say so plainly.
Read the editorial policy →
