Empanadas Recipes

Steps:

• Make the filling: In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, cook meat until no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add onion and jalapenos; cook until soft, 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder and tomatoes. Cook over medium until mixture has thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in cilantro. Let cool.
• Make the dough: In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your fingers, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add just enough cold water so dough comes together.
• Form empanadas. If desired, freeze on a baking sheet until firm, 2 hours. Wrap tightly in plastic; freeze in plastic bags.
• To bake fresh or frozen empanadas, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with egg wash, avoiding crimped edges. Bake until golden brown, rotating sheets halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Put 2 cups boiling water, 4 ounces lard and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large mixing bowl. Stir to melt lard and dissolve salt. Cool to room temperature.
• Gradually stir in flour with a wooden spoon until dough comes together. Knead for a minute or two on a floured board, until firm and smooth. Add more flour if sticky. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Make the filling: Season chopped beef generously with salt and pepper and set aside for 10 minutes. Melt 3 tablespoons lard in a wide heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and fry until nicely browned, stirring throughout to keep pieces separate, about 5 minutes.
• Turn heat down to medium and add onion and chorizo. Keep turning mixture with a spatula, as if cooking hash, until onion is softened and browned, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes, garlic, thyme and marjoram and stir well to incorporate. (Add a little more fat to pan if mixture seems dry.) Season again with salt and pepper and let mixture fry for 2 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste, pimentón and cayenne, then a cup of broth or water. Turn heat to simmer, stirring well to incorporate any caramelized bits.
• Cook for about 10 more minutes, until both meat and potatoes are tender and the sauce just coats them - juicy but not saucy is what you want. Taste and adjust seasoning for full flavor (intensity will diminish upon cooling). Stir in scallions and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Divide chilled dough into 1-ounce pieces and form into 2-inch diameter balls. Roll each piece into a 4 1/2-inch circle. Lay circles on a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour.
• Moisten outer edge of each round with water. Put about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of each round, adding a little chopped green olive and some hard-cooked egg to each. Wrap dough around filling to form empanada, pressing edges together. Fold edge back and finish by pinching little pleats or crimping with a fork.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place empanadas on parchment-lined or oiled baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Brush tops lightly with lard or butter and bake on top shelf of oven until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook about 6 minutes, until translucent. Crumble in the beef and add the paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook until the beef is browned about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Drain off the excess grease. Stir in the vinegar. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for about 1 hour, until chilled. Stir in the olives and hard boiled egg whites.
• If baking the empanadas, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. and coat 2 baking sheets with vegetable oil.
• When working with the empanada disks, always keep all but the disk you're working with covered with a damp towel (not too wet). If the disks are very firm, place them 1 at a time on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll them to 1/2 to 1 inch larger than they are - to make them a little more pliable.
• To fill: lay an empanada disk on the work surface. Place about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the meat mixture in the center of the dough disk. Tuck a cube of cheese into the center of the filling. Use your finger to wet the edges of the disk with water and fold over to seal. Gently press the tines of a fork along the edge to crimp. Lay the empanada on a baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Repeat with the remaining filling and dough disks.
• Brush the tops of the empanadas with vegetable oil and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes. Serve hot!
• If frying the empanadas, fill a skillet 3/4 inch deep with vegetable oil and heat to 360 degrees F, over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with paper towels. Fry the empanadas in the oil until golden brown and crisp - about 4 to 6 minutes, turning once. Remove with tongs, letting the excess oil drip off back into the pan. Transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet and kepp warm in the oven while you fry the remaining empanadas. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Tip the flour into a bowl with 1 tsp salt and add the butter. Rub the butter and flour with your fingertips until crumbly. Add the eggs and 100ml cold water, bring together to a dough then turn out onto a floured surface and begin to knead until soft and smooth. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for 20 mins.
• Remove the chorizo from its casing and add to a mixing bowl with the mince, onion, coriander, parsley, paprika, cumin and chilli flakes. Mix everything together, then cook in a frying pan over a medium heat for 2 mins. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 7-10 mins until everything is cooked through. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Divide the dough into four portions and roll out each one into a thin sheet. Use a 10cm biscuit cutter to cut out discs. Place 1 tsp of filling in the centre of each disc, wet the edges, pinch both sides up and fold in half to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges.
• Arrange on a lined baking tray, brush with beaten egg and bake for 20 mins. When the empanadas are ready, remove from the oven and cool for 5 mins before serving.

Steps:

• In a large bowl sift together flour and salt.
• Blend in the cold butter cubes using you fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal (the mixture should be pea-size).
• In a small bowl whisk together egg, ice water and vinegar.
• Add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until incorporated (the mixture will look somewhat lumpy).
• Transfer the mixture onto a LIGHTLY floured surface.
• Gather the dough together with your hands and gently knead with the heel of your hand once or twice (just enough to bring the dough together, do not overwork the dough or it will be tough!).
• Form the dough in a semi-flat ball or rectangle.
• Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
• Roll out the dough, then cut into desired size circles.
• Fill with favorite fillings then close the dough over the filling as you would a pierogi.
• Brush the ends with egg wash then seal together with a fork.
• Bake as desired.

Steps:

• Combine sifted flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until crumbly. Add egg and pulse until just combined.
• Dissolve salt in warm water. Add gradually to the food processor and pulse until a soft dough ball forms. Turn ball into a bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Dust a work surface with flour and knead dough for 1 minute. Roll out thinly and cut into discs. Freeze discs for later use or use right away for your favorite sweet or savory empanadas.

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, sautée the onions in the oil and butter. (Using butter is important since once cold, it will make assembling the empanadas easier). Sprinkle the crushed cube of vegetable stock (This enhances flavour). Add in the meat. Cook until slightly coloured (it is not recommended to cook well meat well, since then, the empanadas will be baked or fried, so a double cooking process will make meat harder!)
• ncorporate the tomato sauce (this is optional, but I find this makes empanadas "juicier", Argentinians love it when their empanadas drip the meat/onions/tomato juice!; this is also why you don't have to skimp on the onions...) Cook for 2'. Add in all the spices, the olives and hard-boiled eggs. Refrigerate, preferably 24hs.
• In a bowl, put the flour, adding slowly the melted fat or butter. Incorporate this using a fork. Then, put the mixture on your table, making a mound with a well in the center. Start adding the salmuera, little by little, make a ball. The mixture should not be neither too dry not too sticky. If the last happens, rub your hands with flour, and keep on kneading as you would bread dough. Continue until the dough is smooth.
• Form a ball, and let the dough rest (cover with a towel) for 15'. On a floured table top, flatten the dough ball, with a rolling pin, until it is 3 mm wide. Then, cut 12cm wide circles, using a pastry ring mold or a tea saucer.
• Nowadays, in Argentina, people rarely make the dough themselves, since it can be bought, pre cut, in the right size, in any supermarket. If you want to avoid the hassle of making the dough yourself, you can buy pastry puff sheets and cut them into smaller disks of the right dimension...the flavour won't be the same, but it is a great time-saver!
• OK, a spoonful of the filling is on the pastry disk, seal them as you see in the photo
• Place the empanadas on a baking tray, brushed with sunflower oil. Bake them (200°C°) for 15/20' until golden brown.
• For extra brilliance and taste, you can brush the empanadas with egg yolk. Some people love sprinkling cassonade (brown) sugar on them! (My family adores that !!)

Steps:

• For the empanada dough: Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the lard with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg and then whisk in the stock. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and knead until a dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, for the empanada filling: In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and garlic salt and cook until the beef is cooked completely. Drain the grease and set the beef aside.
• In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, oregano, seasoned salt, garlic, bell peppers and onions. Cook until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beef and let them love each other with fire over low heat for about 5 more minutes. The mixture should be moist but not dripping wet. Now you are ready to fill the empanadas.
• Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 4-, 5- or 6-inch rounds, depending on how large you prefer. Add some meat filling to each empanada and fold the dough over in half to enclose the filling. Use a fork to press and seal the edges closed. You can refrigerate the uncooked empanadas for up to 3 hours.
• Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the empanadas until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes.
• For the aioli dip: Mix together the mayonnaise, adobo sauce and lime juice. (The flavor will enhance if it sits in the refrigerator.)

Steps:

• Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
• Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour.