Coxinha

Filling

• chicken breasts500 g
• chicken stock750 ml
• onions1
• garlic cloves3
• tomato paste1 tbsp
• cream cheese150 g
• flat-leaf parsley3 tbsp
• olive oil2 tbsp
• salt

Dough and coating

• plain flour350 g
• butter30 g
• eggs2
• breadcrumbs200 g
• vegetable oil1 l

Filling

1. 01

   Poach the chicken in the stock for 15 minutes, until cooked through with no pink in the middle, then lift it out and shred it finely. Keep every drop of the stock.

2. 02

   Finely chop the onion, crush the garlic and chop the parsley. Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil, add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then fold in the chicken and the parsley. Season with salt and cool.

Dough

3. 03

   Measure 600 ml of the reserved stock into a pan with the butter and bring to a rolling boil.

4. 04

   Tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon. It comes together into a ball in under 1 minute.

5. 05

   Keep working it over low heat for 3 minutes until it is smooth and leaves the sides of the pan cleanly, then turn out and knead until cool enough to handle.

Shaping and frying

6. 06

   Flatten a golf-ball of dough in your palm, put in a spoonful of filling and a small piece of cream cheese, and close it up.

7. 07

   Roll the base round and draw the top into a point, so it looks like a small drumstick.

8. 08

   Beat the eggs. Roll each coxinha in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs.

9. 09

   Heat the vegetable oil to 175°C in a deep, heavy pan — at least 5 cm deep and no more than half full. Fry the coxinhas a few at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, until deep golden. Drain on kitchen paper and eat hot.