Pastel de Pollo: Colombian Chicken Pie (Puff Pastry)

Name: Pastel de Pollo (Colombian Chicken Pie)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 sheet puff pastry (bought, chilled or thawed; this is the shortcut that makes the recipe quick); 1 chicken breast (cut into small cubes, or cooked and shredded (see step 1)); 30 ml white wine (about 2 tablespoons); 1 teaspoon garlic paste; 1 teaspoon mustard; 80 ml heavy cream (about ⅓ cup; it goes in once the filling is cold); Salt and pepper, to taste; A little oregano (dried, added with the wine); Oil (a teaspoon, for frying the chicken)

Chicken cooked with garlic, mustard, oregano and white wine, then bound with cream and sealed inside puff pastry. It bakes in twenty minutes and it can be fried instead. A quick version of the Colombian pastel de pollo, made with bought pastry. Serves four.

Total: 40

JUMP TO RECIPE

Chicken cooked with garlic, mustard, oregano and a splash of white wine, bound with cream and sealed inside puff pastry. Twenty minutes in the oven and it is done.

This is the quick version of pastel de pollo, made with bought pastry. It is worth knowing what it is and is not before you start.

Which pastel de pollo this is

In Colombia, pastel de pollo covers more than one thing.

On the Caribbean coast, a pastel is a substantial parcel of seasoned rice or corn dough with chicken inside, wrapped in bijao leaf and steamed for a long time. It is Christmas and celebration food, close cousin to the tamal, and it takes most of a day.

This recipe is the everyday one: filling sealed in puff pastry and baked. It is faster by an order of magnitude and it is what most people mean when they say they are making pastel de pollo on a weeknight. Both are real; they are just not the same dish.

Cold filling, cold pastry

The recipe tells you twice to let the filling cool, and it is the instruction that decides whether the pastry works.

Puff pastry is layers of dough separated by layers of solid butter. In a hot oven that butter turns to steam all at once and forces the layers apart, which is where the puff comes from. Put warm filling against it and the butter melts quietly on the counter instead, the layers merge, and you get a flat, greasy pastry that never rose.

There is a second reason too: cream stirred into a hot pan can split. That is why the cream goes in at step 6, once everything has cooled, and not with the wine.

Seal the edges, then make holes

These two instructions look contradictory and are not.

Seal the edges firmly, pressing all the way round with a fork or your fingers. This is what keeps the filling in.

Then prick the top with a fork. The filling contains cream and cooked chicken, both of which release steam. In a completely sealed parcel that steam has nowhere to go, pressure builds, and it escapes through whichever part gives first, which is nearly always the seam. A few holes in the top let it out gently and the seam holds.

So: sealed sides, vented top. That is the whole trick.

Cubes or shredded

The recipe fries small cubes of breast, which is the fast route and gives you distinct pieces of chicken.

It also offers the traditional alternative in the first step: poach the breast and shred it. Shredded chicken packs more evenly into pastry, spreads the filling further, and is what to do with leftover roast chicken. It makes a softer pastel.

Step 6 offers a third option: blend the filling smooth once the cream is in. That gives something closer to a chicken paste, which fills more neatly and is easier for children to eat.

Baked or fried

Step 7 slips in an alternative worth noticing: these can be fried instead of baked.

Fried, they come out crisper, heavier and much closer to a Colombian street empanada. Baked, the pastry flakes properly and the whole thing is lighter. If you fry them, keep the heat at medium so the pastry cooks through before the outside browns.

Related recipes

Empanadas — the corn dough version, fried.
Chicken stew — another way with the same breast.
Tamales — the wrapped, steamed relative of the coastal pastel.

Pastel de Pollo FAQ

Is this the traditional Colombian pastel de pollo?

No, and it does not pretend to be. The traditional one, especially on the Caribbean coast, is a corn dough parcel wrapped in bijao leaf and steamed for hours. This is the quick home version: the same filling idea sealed in bought puff pastry and baked in twenty minutes.

Why prick holes in the pastry?

To let steam out. Puff pastry works by trapping steam between layers, and a sealed parcel with wet filling inside builds up pressure until it bursts, almost always along the seam you carefully pressed shut. A few fork holes in the top give the steam somewhere to go.

Why does the filling have to be cold?

Two reasons. Cream stirred into hot filling can split. And warm filling melts the butter in the puff pastry before it reaches the oven, which is exactly what stops it rising: the layers need to be cold going in so the butter turns to steam all at once.

Can I fry them instead of baking?

Yes, the recipe allows it. Fried, they come out closer to a Colombian street empanada, crisper and heavier. Baked, they are lighter and the pastry flakes properly. Fry over medium heat so the pastry cooks through before the outside colours.

Cubed chicken or shredded?

Either. The recipe fries small cubes, which is faster. Poaching the breast and shredding it is the traditional route and gives a softer filling that packs into the pastry more evenly. Shredded is also the better option if you are using leftover chicken.

What can I use instead of white wine?

Chicken broth with a squeeze of lime gets you close. It is only 30 ml and its job is to lift the chicken and deglaze the pan, so the alcohol is not the point. What matters is that whatever you use cooks off before the filling comes off the heat.

Pastel de Pollo: Colombian Chicken Pie in Puff Pastry