The food of Monaco is heavily influenced by the cuisine of both the Provence region of France (where Monaco is situated) and that of Northern Italy. I have found quite a bit more Italian than French influence in the traditional dishes. I landed on barbajuan which some recipes liken to a fried ravioli, but I find to be more similar to an empanada, but I guess I've never had fried ravioli to compare it to.
The dough is a mix of flour, water, olive oil, salt, and egg, which I guess is pretty similar to a pasta dough.
It came together very easily. It's always satisfying when you can combine everything and shape it into a ball without it sticking all over the place or leaving behind dry pieces. I like doughs with oil in it for that reason.
The filling is also pretty simple: chopped leeks, chopped chard (I used frozen spinach instead), ricotta, parmesan, egg, oil, salt, and oregano. Definitely leaning more towards Italian than French at this point.
All the ingredients are then mixed up into a nice smooth consistency. Honestly you can't go wrong with a mix of spinach and cheese. It's such a classic combination. I love Mediterranean food.
The dough is cut into circles, or squares if you want the ravioli shape. I think I'd still go with the crescent shape; I just like it better and I think you get a better seal. Again I love how easy this dough was to work with. I'm so used to struggling with dumpling wrappers when the ratio of flour to water is off.
The filling is spooned into the center of each circle...
Then the circle is folded over into a crescent shape and the edges sealed with a fork.
The first couple I made, I didn't seal them quite enough, so they popped open just a bit; luckily they still tasted great. In batches, the pastries are dropped into hot oil to fry for a few minutes until golden brown. Mine were pretty light in color but I think I prefer that. The fried dough was deliciously flaky and the filling was the perfect combination of ingredients. This is definitely one I want to make again.
Recipes Used: Barbajuans
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