Tags
appetizers, Argentina food, dinner, empanadas, food, ground beef, hard cooked eggs, Latin food, sweet paprika
My husband loves empanadas – they are his comfort food. They are fun food packets bursting with flavor that are great for snacks, appetizers or a simple meal. I like the mix of olives, raisins, beef and spices that give them their traditional taste. I found this recipe that is similar to the ones they make in Argentina. I use dough circles (usually Goya brand) that I can find in the hispanic freezer section of my grocery store so that I don’t have to make the dough from scratch. I also prefer to bake my empanadas rather than frying them so they have less oil.
This recipe is based on one I discovered at epicurious.com:
Empanadas
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
- 6 oz pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- salt, to taste
- 10-12 empanada dough circles
- 2 Tbsp canola or olive oil
I browned the ground beef in a skillet and then drained any excess fat off. In another skillet I heated 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium to medium-high heat and added the onion. I cooked until the onion started to brown and then added the garlic. I cooked the mixture for another minute or so. Then I added the remaining 2 Tbsp oil and the rest of the ingredients (except the dough circles) and carefully mixed it. I let the mixture cool slightly before stuffing the empanadas.
To stuff the empanadas, I put a few Tablespoons of mixture on half of one dough circle. Then I wet the edges of the circle and folded the dough over to make a half moon shape and pressed the edges to seal them well. At this point I fold the edges up, empanada style. I’m not all that great at this and it’s difficult to explain, so you may want to find a video on youtube like this one to show you how to do it.
After all of the empanadas are done, I place them on a cooking sheet sprayed with oil. I then brush the tops with a bit of oil so they will brown. (Or, you could brush them with egg wash) I bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until they start to brown.
I like to serve them with sauce. You can purchase chimichurri sauce or make your own sauce. The sauce I used in this recipe was:
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp chopped red onion
- 1 minced clove garlic
- 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 oz chopped cilantro
- salt and pepper, to taste
Just mix up the ingredients and serve with your empanadas. Yum!
