Empanadas

Adapted from Laylita's Recipes and from Argentina with Love

The dough in this recipe is great and easy to work with.  The great thing about making Empanadas is you can make any filling you want.  I ran out of beef filling, so I chopped up some apples added some cinnamon and sugar and used the rest of the dough to make little apple tarts for dessert.

  

Empanada Dough:

3 cups Flour

1 Egg Yolk

1/2 cup Butter

1 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Salt

Beef Filling:

2 lbs Ground Beef

3 medium Onions

3 Tbsp Paprika

4 tsp Cumin

Green Olives, cut into slices (I used 1/3 of a jar)

3 hard-boiled Eggs, cut into rounds

Salt and Pepper to taste

1-2 Chili Peppers, minced (optional)

1 egg white, whipped

Mix flour and salt, add butter and blend well.  Add egg yolk and the milk in small amounts (set aside egg white).  Knead for a few minutes until dough is evenly combined.  Cut dough into two, roll into balls and flatten.  Chill for about 30 minutes.  

While the dough is in the fridge, begin making the filling.  In a large frying pan cook beef, onions and garlic until browned.  Then add paprika, olives, salt and pepper and chilies.  Let this meat mixture cool.  

Preheat the oven to 400.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface and flatten with a rolling pin to 1/8 of an inch.  Cut into largish rounds using a cup or small bowl.  Spoon some meat filling into the middle of the round and add a piece of hard-boiled egg on top.  Fold the dough in half to create a half-moon shape, pinch the edges shut.  To see a great video on how this is done, click here.   

Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the reserved egg white, it makes them really pretty and brown as they bake.  Put into the fridge for 30 minutes, then bake for about 10-15 minutes on a prepared cookie sheet.  

These are best served with a sauce or salsa of some kind.   I sauteed some garlic, onions and tomatoes and added a bit of cream to eat with ours.  Here is another recipe:

Chimichurri sauce:

1 1/2 cup fresh Parsley

6 Basil leaves

3 sprigs of Oregano

4 cloves of crushed Garlic

3 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar 

6 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Chili Powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender, until the sauce is smooth.  Use the same day-- does not keep well.