Heart Health Month: Pastelitos Recipe

Blog sponsored by: Mazola® Corn Oil

Growing up Dominican, pastelitos were a regular part of my life. We often had them at parties and on nights my mom did not feel like cooking. These were simple and super quick to make ( if you have masa around haha). If you do not know what a pastelito is, it's a pastry stuffed with meat or cheese and then fried. And just as pastelitos were a fam fave, so was Mazola® Corn oil. This Is why I partnered with them this year to bring you some delicious recipes that taste like casita. The amount of nostalgia that cooking with Mazola® brings me is intense. My abuelita ONLY used Mazola®. And honestly, I didn’t know there were any other oils to cook with until I was an adult. 

Oils in general get a bad rep and I am here to take that fear away! Not only do we need fats in our diet, but they also help us absorb fat soluble vitamins! And just like everything in life, we need to understand that too much of anything isn’t good either. So when we think about fats (and nutrition in general) variety and versatility is KEY!

Mazola® Corn Oil is made from corn, a plant. This means that Mazola® oil has Plant sterols, which are a plant based micro-nutrient found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes and vegetable oils. Studies show that when you consume plant sterols as part of a heart healthy diet ( and consuming appropriate amounts of saturated fat), plant sterols can help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, which can lower LDL blood cholesterol*. Now, I think it's important to understand the role of variety here, and cooking smoke point is something that’s not discussed as often. There will be times that you’ll need a higher smoke point oil to cook something at high heat, and Mazola® would be a perfect choice. There might be times that you are making something with a lower heat necessity and you might choose another oil. The key here is to know you have choices and they can all be part of a balanced lifestyle.

I always hear the concern from my followers and clients that all our foods are fried and honestly not that many actually are BUT if you're worried about heart health and don't want to be deep frying your pastelitos, here is an air fryer version you are going to love using heart-healthy** Mazola® Corn Oil.. And when we are cooking something that needs a fry consistency we need a high smoke point and Mazola gives us both all wrapped up in one oil.. If you choose to use a pre-made masa disk also OK. Remember this is your dish, do what you can with what you have.

Now let’s dive into the recipe:

Masa:

• 2 tbsp of Mazola® Corn Oil

• 3 cups of flour

• 1 tbsp of salt

• 1 tbsp sugar

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup water

For the Masa mix all dry ingredients then add and stir the 2 eggs. Using your hands, mix the masa and add water slowly. Mix until you have combined it all, probably 5 mins. Then let masa sit for at least and hour.

Chicken Recipe:

• 1 tbsp Mazola® Corn Oil

• 1 pound ground chicken

• ¼ cup sofrito

• ½ tbsp sazon

• ¼ tsp oregano

• 2 tbsp of powder bouillon

• ¼ c celery

• ¼ c bell peppers

• ¼ c onions

• 2 tbsp cilantro

• 2 tbsp minced garlic

Add Mazola® , celery, onions, and peppers. Sautee for 3 mins and then add ground chicken and seasonings. Cook through.

Stuffing masa:

I like to cut the masa in circular shapes and small for the air fryer since we aren't deep frying. Coat the pastelito thoroughly with Mazola® Corn Oil, we need it to be moist so that the masa cooks well and it's crispy. Add to the air fryer at 375 for 7-8 mins or your liking of crispiness.

What did you think? Leave us a comment, show us your pastelitos!

* Studies show that, when consumed as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, plant sterols can help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, which can lower LDL blood cholesterol. USDA and USDHHS 2010; FDA 2000, 2010; Wu et al. 2009; Demonty et al. 2008, Ellegard et al. 2008; Mensink et al. 2010. To achieve cholesterol reduction, one serving of corn oil must be part of a healthy diet and replace a similar amount of butter or other higher saturated fat oils. 

**Very limited and preliminary scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1 tablespoon (16 grams) of Corn Oil daily may reduce the risk of heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in Corn Oil. FDA concludes that there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim. To achieve this possible benefit, Corn Oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product contains 14 grams of Corn Oil.