• 5 ⅓ cups (800g) hard flour (Village/Coarse Flour)
• 1 cup (200g) fine semolina
• 1 teaspoon (8g) salt
• ⅔ cup (160g) lard (pork fat)
• 1 ⅔ cups (410ml) lukewarm water
For the Filling
• 2 cups (480g) lard (pork fat)
• 4 tablespoons (60g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon (3g) ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ cups (200g) cured/preserved pork (pasta)
For the Syrup
• 3 cups (690g) sugar
• 3 cups (750ml) water
• 10 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tablespoons (20ml) orange blossom water
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) lemon juice
For Rolling the Dough
• Cornstarch (Niseste)
METHOD
First, prepare the syrup:
1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cloves, and cinnamon sticks, and place it on the heat. Let the water warm up.
2. Stir and reduce the heat to medium. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the orange blossom water and lemon juice.
3. Boil for another 1 minute and remove from the heat. Let it cool down.
For the dough:
1. In the mixer bowl or a bowl, place the flour, semolina, and salt, and mix with the dough hook or your hands. Add the lard (you can get this from your butcher and ask for it to be clean).
2. If making it yourself, take some fat from the butcher, melt it, skim off the clear fat from the surface, and let it solidify.) Then rub the fat into the flour mixture (or mix with the mixer) until coarse crumbs form.
3. Add the water and knead for 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough 'rest' for 30 minutes.
For the filling:
1. Melt the lard and let it cool.
2. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon.
3. Grind the preserved pork in a food processor until it resembles ground almonds.
For the Pastopites:
1. Knead the dough and shape it into a log. Cut it into 8 pieces. Dust each piece lightly with cornstarch and roll it out with a rolling pin or a pasta machine. If using the machine, slightly flatten a piece of dough with a rolling pin, then run it through setting 2 of the machine, and then setting 5. (On my machine, setting 1 is the thickest sheet and setting 7 is the thinnest).
2. If rolling by hand, roll out a large rectangle about 17x90cm. Brush it with the melted lard and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon, and 2-3 tablespoons of ground preserved pork. Roll up the sheet, twisting it as you go.
3. Cut the resulting log into 3 pieces, each about 30 cm long. Twist each piece and fold one end towards the middle, and the other end from the opposite side towards the middle.
4. Place one folded piece on top of the other and roll out with a rolling pin into a thin round pie, 10-12 cm in diameter. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Bake the pastopites on a saj (griddle) or a non-stick pan. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side.
5. Remove them and immediately place them in the cold syrup. Lift them out with a slotted spoon to drain excess syrup. Let them cool without covering them, otherwise, they will soften.
