Recipe for Pizza de Frango e Catupiry com Borda Recheada

This is a recipe for a chicken and catupiry pizza with a catupiry stuffed crust (frango e catupiry com borda recheada.)   It's a combination of a few recipes that I put together and found it works well.  Catupiry is a Brazilian soft cheese; outside of Brazil, you may be able to find it in Brazilian shops.  If you can't find it, try any kind of cheese and let me know if it works!  This recipe works perfectly well for any topping of your choice, so go nuts!

Ingredients

Base

1 table spoon yeast (eg 1 sachet)

1 coffee spoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1 cup of warm milk

3 tablespoons olive oil

Plain flour (enough to make up the dough)

1 packet Catupiry (divide between the stuffed crust and the topping)

Topping

Chicken, roasted and shredded

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 cloves garlic

1/2 medium sized onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil and parsley

Dried oregano to garnish

a few slices mozzarella

Method

Topping

1. In a saucepan, fry the onions and garlic until the onions are soft
2. Add the chicken and mix well
3. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, basil and parsley and cook over a low heat until the sauce thickens.
4. Leave the topping to one side until ready to add to the pizza
5. Add salt and pepper to taste

Pizza

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F)
2. Activate the yeast by stirring into ¼ cup of warm water (35-45°C, 100-110°F) with 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Let it stand for 10 minutes until it foams and doubles in volume.
3. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, adding extra flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.
4. Knead the dough on a floured surface for approx 15 min.
5. Roll out the dough until it is thin and round.
6. Grease the pizza tray (or baking tray) with a little olive oil
7. Lay the dough on the pizza tray, ensuring the dough extends an extra inch or so over the edge of the tray.
8. Use a piping bag to pipe a thick ring of catupiry around the dough, roughly marking out the edges of the pizza tray.
9. Fold the dough over the catupiry and firmly press into the base of the pizza.
10. Prick the dough with a form in several places.
11. Put in the oven for approx 10 minutes until the dough is slightly golden.
12. Remove the dough from the oven
13. Lay a few slices of mozzarella on the base
14. Spoon the chicken mixture on top of the mozzarella
15. Pipe the remaining catupiry over the chicken and garnish with dried oregano
16. Put the pizza back in the oven for approx 10 minutes until the crust is golden and the toppings are cooked.
17. Leave to cool a little before serving.

Piping the catupiry (use more cheese than I used!)

Folding the dough over the catupiry

Finishing touches before first bake

After baking (we put some mozzarella slices under the topping)

Frango...

... com catupiry

Ready for the oven

Ready for eating

Pizza

Pizza in Brazil is a unique experience.  There are loads of possible toppings, some familiar, some not so much.  Stroganoff, bolognaise, broccoli, German sausage... if you can imagine it, someone has probably put it on a pizza! 

Frango com catupiry pizza

Special mention goes to a cheese called Catupiry, a creamy cheese that originated in Minas Gerais.  The name comes from the native Tupi language meaning excellent and with good reason!  It is a very popular pizza topping in Brazil and goes with practically everything – one of my favourites is frango com catupiry (chicken with catupiry.)  Cooked chicken is combined with tomatoes, garlic and herbs then spread on the pizza with catupiry liberally squeezed all over it. Catupiry often makes another appearance in the crust.  Borda recheada (stuffed crust) is a popular option with catupiry being the cheese of choice. 

Just in case you aren’t feeling full after that, you have the option of sweet pizzas.  Growing up in Northeast Scotland, I had heard rumours of such a thing on occasion, but never came face to face with one until I went to a rodízio restaurant in Meia Praia, SC.  Rodízio restaurants are all-you-can eat restaurants where the food is rotated (hence the name) around the restaurant by the waiters.  Outside of Brazil, this will usually be a churrascaria (barbecue restaurant) – I will no doubt be writing more about these – but in Brazil, it could be anything from feijoada to pasta.  Personally I think pizza rodízio is a great idea, as you can try as many types as you like and sometimes looking at the pizza that is offered will make your mind up for you.  Of course, there are consequences as well, so prepare for that guilty, overfed and overfull feeling when you leave...

Sweet pizza with various toppings

Anyway back to sweet pizzas... An apparition of chocolate, strawberries and ice cream appeared before me (sorry, I’m back on the rodízio place) and I had to try it!  Of course, by this stage, you’ve probably already eaten too much (well, I have anyway) but if you have to have a dessert, why not have it in pizza form?  By the way, I just googled “pizza doce com borda recheada” and saw a picture of a pizza with strawberries and chocolate in the crust, I have to try that!

Before I finish, I’ll add a few words about pizza etiquette in Brazil.  Everyone has their own habits; personally I like to pick up a slice and attack it!  In Brazil, it is very rare that people eat pizza with their hands, whether in a restaurant or at home.  If you’re meeting the in-laws for pizza, don’t forget the knife and fork!

After all this writing about pizza, I need to go on a diet!  Or eat a pizza...  

Welcome to the support group for people married to Brazilians!

Hello, my name is Daniel, I'm English and I married a Brazilian...

I married Sheila in 2010 and, since meeting her, I have been experiencing and learning Brazilian culture; from Brazilian Portuguese, through the amazing food, to the dark side of Brazilian culture - Novelas (I'm suppressing a shudder, I'll try to go on...)

When most people - my experience is mostly of Brits and North Americans - think of Brazil, they think about beaches, football, half-naked women and the Amazon rain-forest, but this does not begin to scratch the surface of Brazil and its rich history and culture.  Even now, with the 2014 World Cup looming, there appears to be little awareness of the country: I heard someone on the radio joking about going to the World Cup for the Mardi Gras girls; where do I begin explaining what's wrong with that?!  I don't pretend to know everything about the country, but I would like to share my observations and experiences of Brazil and Brazilians.