Escondidinho de carne seca (dried beef and cassava bake)

Method

1. The day before, desalt the carne seca: cut it into 5 cm pieces, rinse and cover with cold water in a bowl; keep in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times. Taste a raw sliver: it should be only slightly salty.
2. Drain the beef, put it in the pressure cooker, cover with fresh water and cook 25 minutes once it starts hissing (1½ hours over low heat in an ordinary pot). Let the pressure out, drain, cool slightly and shred with two forks, discarding thick fat.
3. Peel the cassava, cut it into 5 cm pieces, split them and pull out the tough core. Boil in water with 1 teaspoon of salt for 25 to 30 minutes (10 minutes under pressure) until the cassava cracks open and is very soft. Drain.
4. Mash the hot cassava with the butter until smooth (use a potato ricer or masher; a stick blender makes it gluey). Stir in the cream (creme de leite) and a pinch of salt to a soft purée.
5. Chop the onion and garlic and dice the tomato. In a pot over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion for 3 minutes; add the garlic for 1 minute; add the shredded beef and fry for 3 minutes, stirring; add the tomato and black pepper and cook just until the tomato wilts, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste before salting. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped chives.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. In an ovenproof dish of about 20 × 30 cm greased with a little oil, spread half the purée, then the beef and finally the rest of the purée. Cover with the mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes until golden. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.