Empanadas

Baked Empanadas

Hello hello, my oven's back!!! They finally repaired it. And to celebrate it, I'm going to make a few Empanadas for tea. Not very good for the diet you'll tell me, but well, with the supermarket not too near, I'll have to make do with whatever I have at hand and what I have screams out "Empanadas"!!!

Back in Stuttgart, I used to have regular access to my dear Colombian friend C's famous empanadas, but now that I'm in another land, I'll have to make do with mine. And she usually fries hers, but I've just gone through a recent round of fried beef curry puffs so baked empanadas would sit better in the stomach. And they did, I'm ashamed to say that I ate four in one go!

There are of course different ways of making the pastry for the empanadas and what you use depends on where you come from i.e. Spain, Colombia, Argentina etc. Some use plain flour, others use pre-cooked corn flour, yet others add in beer etc. Me, I had leftover pâte brisée and so I used that. Otherwise, for baked empanadas, puff pastry probably would be best.

There are also 101 ways of stuffing the empanadas. I've eaten meat with olives, meat with vegetables, ham and cheese, cheese and bananas etc etc.

The Filling for My Empanadas :

Minced Beef and Pork

Ground Cumin

Ground Paprika

Ground Chilli

Oregano

Olive Oil

Onion

Garlic

Red Bell Peppers

Peas/Zucchini

Meat stock

Tomato Pulp

Fresh Coriander or Parsley

Raisins (didn't use in some of them as I'm not a fan)

Hard Boiled Eggs

Salt and Pepper

Marinate the meat with the spices, herbs and tomato paste. Set aside for at least an hour.

In a wok brown the diced onions, garlic and bell peppers in some olive oil. Add in the marinated meat. When the meat's almost done, add in some stock and tomato pulp, cook a little more and then turn off the heat and let the meat cool (even overnight in the fridge). Mix in the diced eggs and coriander leaves or parsley.

On thin flat rounds of raw pastry, fill with some of the meat and egg mixture, seal with egg white and then bake in a pre-heated oven at 180-200ºC for 20 minutes. If you want a prettier pastry, brush the pastry with some beaten egg yolk before baking it. Depending on where you come from, you will seal your empanada differently. Me I just used a knife to make regular cuts where the empanada was sealed.

I like to eat my empanada as it is, but many people would serve it with a dip e.g. made of chopped tomatoes and tabasco sauce. Whatever it is, do try to eat with some moderation. I'm speaking for myself, of course. We're going out for dinner tonight and I've overstuffed myself with empanadas and can just imagine the scolding that I'll be getting from Hubby later on...

PS : There's an site (in Spanish) that talks only about empanadas. It is a passion in some parts of the world :-).