You will lose these before you sit down. Half-moon pastries filled with a shrimp béchamel, breaded and fried until the crust is a dry gold — they appear at every Portuguese party, on the silver tray that comes around the room, and they vanish. Serve them at once, while they still sound hollow when you tap them.
The rissol is French in technique and entirely Portuguese in destiny: baptisms, New Year, the petisco that matters. Shrimp is the filling that counts; meat is a lesser moon.
Cool the filling until it will not weep. Seal the half-moons tightly — a leak in the fryer is a small tragedy — and fry at 350°F. They will not wait, and neither will your guests.
Method
- 01
Bring the water and butter to a boil in a saucepan, then dump in the flour all at once and beat hard until the dough comes away from the sides in a ball. Off the heat, beat in the egg until the paste is smooth and glossy. Cool it, then roll it thin on a floured board — about an eighth of an inch. This is the jacket; it must be thin enough to fry crisp.
- 02
Cook the minced onion until it softens and smells sweet, then add the chopped shrimp and toss just until they turn pink. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of flour, then the milk, and cook until you have a thick béchamel that holds a trail when you draw a spoon through it. Season with parsley, lemon, and salt. Cool completely — a warm filling will weep and split the pastry.
- 03
Cut the dough into rounds with a glass or a biscuit cutter. Spoon a little cooled filling onto each, fold into a half-moon, and pinch the edges tight — a leak in the fryer is a small tragedy. Dip each rissol in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, pressing so the crumbs adhere. Line them up on a tray as you go; they wait better than you think.
- 04
Heat the oil to 350°F and fry the rissóis a few at a time until the crust is a dry, even gold — about 3 minutes, turning once. They should sound hollow when you tap them. Drain and serve at once; a rissol that waits is a rissol that weeps, and your guests will not wait either.
