Portuguese Shrimp Turnovers ~ Rissóis de Camarão

Shrimp turnovers or rissóis, as they’re called in Portuguese, always graced food trays at banquets and celebrations when I was growing up. They were rarely served at home except at weddings or baptisms.

In Canada, you can get them homemade in various shops in Portuguese communities. You can get them frozen, ready to fry, or fresh from bakeries. I’ve had really good ones and a slew of mediocre ones that either had a great crisp exterior and a meh filling or vice versa. Sometimes you weren’t really sure the filling contained any shrimp…

When I read this recipe, I didn’t really believe that I could make these to look like the photo. The ingredients, however, sounded like they would create a turnover reminiscent of my better experiences. Notwithstanding, this was my chance to learn how to make these at home. I was surprised that the pastry was as easy to make as choux pastry. That was my first thumbs up.

The instructions for both the pastry and the filling were clear and easy to follow. Even though the entirety of the recipe was hands-on, the flow was dynamic and each step created anticipation for the finished product. The timing really didn’t feel like 2 hours and a bit more had elapsed.

I really liked that the shrimp mixture was cooked enough for tasting before committing it to the filling. I especially loved that the shrimp were coarsely chopped.

For the hot sauce, I used my own piri-piri sauce which seemed rather fitting. Although the recipe called for cilantro or parsley, I used parsley as that was the flavor I remembered.

The pastry was forgiving (I love that in pastry dough!) and I rolled it as thin as I could without poking holes in it. Using a 10-cm cookie cutter I was only able to obtain 26 turnovers and not 36. Also, I had 1/2 cup of filling leftover. When I cut through a finished turnover, the pastry did look like it could have been rolled a bit thinner. As for the pastry, I’m sure it was not the fault of the recipe but my newbie attempt. My turnovers did look like the whole ones in the photo!

The filling…oh, the filling…best combination of flavor and texture I’d ever had. Shared a few with a couple of Portuguese friends and I got the same response. The shapes were perfect. The leftover filling was not a problem at all! I enjoyed it on toasted Calabrese bread with an extra sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Already looking forward to making these again.

You’ll love these shrimp turnovers with a soft dough, a creamy filling, and a delicious shrimp flavor. They’re a perfect starter or snack, but they can also be served as a meal. We like to serve them with tomato rice and a good green salad. Whenever you prepare them, make an additional quantity and freeze, so you always have this snack on hand!

Instead of water, I used 5 tablespoons (with only 2 tablespoons, the filling won’t be creamy) of the following seafood stock: pour the shrimp in boiling water, without salt, and after a few minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, place them in a bowl with water, ice, and plenty of salt, until they cool. Reserve the cooking water. Peel the shrimp and reserve the heads. Place the heads in a blender, add 1 cup of the cooking water and grind. Pass through a sieve. The broth you do not use can be frozen (I use it for seafood rice and paella).

Combine the cornstarch or flour with 4 tablespoons of the shrimp water and mix well. Stir into the milk and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens, about 4 minutes (if using cornstarch, don’t overcook it or the cornstarch will break down and the mixture will loosen). Stir in the chopped shrimp, heat through for 2 minutes, and remove from the heat. Let cool completely. The amount of filling was appropriate for the dough.

If, when pressing the edges, the dough doesn’t stick well, moisten your fingertips and pass through the edges, so that they stick more easily.