Lenten Fasting Pastries

Ingredients

• 6 dozen almonds
• warm water
• flour
• 3 to 4 tablespoons pure olive oil
• acelgas (chard leaves)
• salt
• papas (potatoes)
• alberjitas verdes (green peas)
• pepper
• oil
• vinegar

Instructions

1. Blanch six dozen almonds in boiling water, wash, and grind to a paste in the mortar.
2. Add warm water and strain through a clear cloth, pressing hard; grind the pulp again and strain once more to make almond milk.
3. Mix the almond milk with flour and knead, working in three or four tablespoons of very fresh pure olive oil until the dough is soft and pliable.
4. Roll the dough out, fold it six times into a hojaldra, thin it again, and cut into small squares.
5. For the filling, boil washed chard leaves in salted water with the pot covered so they do not blacken; drain, remove stems and fibers, and chop finely.
6. Boil potatoes in their skins, then peel, chop and mix with the chard and very well-cooked green peas; season with pepper, salt, oil and vinegar.
7. Fill the pastry squares and bake in a very hot oven about ten minutes, just until the pastry browns.