Escondidinho (pastel de yuca y carne brasileño)

Name: Escondidinho (pastel de yuca y carne brasileño)
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Brazilian
Ingredients: 800 g Cassava (mandioca/aipim), peeled; 150 ml Milk; 40 g Butter; 400 g Minced beef; 1 (150 g) Onion; 3 cloves (15 g) Garlic, minced; 1 (150 g) Ripe tomato; 15 g (1 tbsp) Tomato paste; 120 g Grated mozzarella or curd cheese; 30 ml (2 tbsp) Olive oil; 20 g Spring onions and parsley, chopped; 8 g Salt

Brazil's cottage pie: seasoned beef 'hidden' under a silky mash of cassava and topped with melted cheese, baked until golden. The name itself means 'little hidden thing'.

Fuente

Receta de Northeastern & home Brazilian kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · Often made with shredded sun-dried beef (carne seca) in the Northeast

Brazilian home-style (Northeastern roots) — Escondidinho — from esconder, 'to hide' — layers a savoury filling beneath a purée of cassava (or sometimes potato) and cheese, baked until golden. The classic and most celebrated version hides shredded carne seca, the salt-dried beef of the Northeast.

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⏱ 75 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 520 kcal🇧🇷 Brasil

Sin glutenSin frutos secos

Pasos

Boil the cassava chunks in salted water for 25–35 minutes until a fork slides through with no resistance. Cassava must be fully soft — it will not mash smooth otherwise.
💡 Cassava must always be cooked before eating — never taste it raw. Discard any piece with a hard, woody or blue-grey core.
Drain well, then mash the hot cassava with the warm milk, butter and 3 g salt into a smooth, spoonable purée. Set aside.
For the filling, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes until soft. Add the minced beef and cook, breaking it up, until browned, about 6 minutes.
Stir in the chopped tomato, tomato paste and remaining 5 g salt. Cook 5 minutes into a thick, jammy sauce — no loose liquid, or it will make the mash slide.
Fold the spring onions and parsley through the beef and turn off the heat.
Spread the beef in an even layer in a baking dish. Spoon the cassava purée over the top and smooth it right to the edges so the beef is completely 'hidden'.
💡 Seal the mash all the way to the edges — any gap lets the filling bubble up and burn instead of staying hidden and juicy.
Scatter the grated cheese over the mash. Bake at 200°C for 18–20 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling.
Rest 5 minutes so it sets enough to scoop, then serve with white rice and a green salad.

💡 Consejos

Can't find cassava? A mash of half potato, half sweet potato is a fair stand-in, though the flavour is milder and less nutty than true mandioca.
The most prized version uses carne seca — salt-cured, sun-dried beef that is soaked, boiled to desalt, then shredded. It gives a deeper, chewier filling.