These pastries took me right back to my high school years. We would have one of this for lunch on those cheeky days when we didn’t feel like going to the canteen and have yesterday’s rice with no-flavour something else (sorry, I know, some canteens are not that bad!). In Portuguese is called ‘lanche misto’ or ‘merenda mista’ and can be found in any pastry or bread shop – is a popular snack! It was super easy to ‘veganise’ and is super tasty too!
Time: 1h 40 minutes
Type: snack
Difficulty: 1.5 pans
Serves: 12 pastries
What you need:
400g all purpose flour
50g brown sugar
50g soft vegetable spread
7g dry yeast
150ml plant milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
vegan ham slices
vegan cheese slices
a little milk and olive oil to brush
Utensils:
1 big bowl and 1 small bowl
measuring cup
rolling pin
knife
parchment paper
baking tray
baking brush
Directions:
Mix plant milk (room temperature), softened vegetable spread, vegetable oil, sugar and dry yeast in a small bowl and mix well;
In a large bowl, put the flour and add in the previous mixture; combine all well with your hands until the dough is all uniformly integrated and doesn’t stick to your fingers or the to the bowl;
Cover bowl with a fabric cloth and let the dough rise in a warm and dark place (about 1h);
Then, flour a working surface and start rolling and stretching the dough into a rectangle (about 0.5cm thick);
Note: if your surface is not very long like mine, you’ll need to do this in two batches.
In the bottom half of the rectangle, place the vegan ham and cheese slices (see picture below) and fold the dough so the upper half cover the bottom;
Cut into individual portions, about 7cm wide;
In a large baking tray, place the pastries on top of the parchment paper, brush with a little plant milk and olive oil and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden on top; brush again with plant milk and olive oil once baked;
They’re lovely hot or cold!
Plant Based Portuguese 