Empanadas

Ranked #12,739 in Food & Cooking, #225,325 overall

Empanadas

Empanada is a Spanish stuffed pastry. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. The stuffing can consist of many things such as meat or vegetables. In Spain, empanadas are usually large and circular in shape and are cut into smaller portions for consumption, whereas in Portugal and South America empanadas are normally small and semi-circular.

Bolivian Empanadas are made with beef or chicken, and usually contain potatoes, peas and carrots, as well as a hard boiled egg, an olive, or raisins. They are called salteñas and are moon-shaped pouches of dough customarily seamed along the top of the pastry. Salteñas are very juicy and generally sweeter than the Chilean variety, though there are different levels of spiciness (non sweetness). In the afternoons, fried cheese empanadas are served, sometimes brushed with sugar icing.

Colombian empanadas can be either baked or fried. The ingredients used in the filling can vary according to the region, but it will usually contain components such as salt, rice, beef or ground beef, shredded chicken, boiled potatoes, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and peas. In the department of Valle del Cauca, they are generally filled with ground meat, yellow potato or Creole potato. They are also served with peas, tomato, cilantro, and many other spices. In the city of Medellín, Chorizo filled empanadas can be easily found, because of the city's love of pork and chorizo meats. In the Amazonic regions of Colombia, such as the area of the city of Leticia, many sweet empanadas can be found, because of the high demand and high supply of tropical fruits of the region. Many of these empanadas are filled with some sort of jam consisting of these types of tropical fruits, such as lulo, zapote and many more which can all be found in the Amazon regions of Colombia. However, radical variations can also be found (cheese empanadas, chicken-only empanadas, and even Trucha - Trout - empanadas). The pastry is mostly corn-based, although potato flour is also used. In Santander, wheat flour pastry is the most popular with a variety of fillings that may include pineapple and even mushrooms, but the empanadas of ground or puréed manioc (stuffed with rice and shredded chicken or minced meat and, usually, chopped hard boiled egg and cilantro) are a representative traditional food.

Cuban empanadas are typically filled with seasoned meats (usually ground beef or chicken), folded into dough, and deep fried. Cubans also sometimes refer to empanadas as empanadillas. Empanadas can also be made with cheese, guayaba, or a mixture of both. It can also be made with fruit such as apple. pears, pumpkins and pineapples.

These are not to be confused with Cuban pastelitos, which are very similar but use a lighter pastry dough and may or may not be fried. Cubans eat empanadas at any meal, but they usually consume them during lunch or as a snack.

Latin American Empanadas (Pipian Empanadas)

Directions
To prepare dough: Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add oil and work with your fingertips until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add water and knead until dough just comes together (do not overwork). Press the dough into two disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
To prepare filling: Heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a blender or spice mill and grind to a fine powder.
Cook ground beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomato, cumin, broth, vinegar, potatoes, salt, ground pumpkin seeds and the beef. Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes to intensify flavors and reduce liquid. Fold in scallions and hard-boiled egg. Let cool completely in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, prepare Aji Sauce. Set aside.

To assemble empanadas: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. On a well-floured surface, roll out one disk at a time to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut circles of dough using a 4 1/2-inch round cookie cutter (see Tips). Make 24 circles altogether.
Brush egg glaze around the edges of the dough circles. Place about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of each circle. Fold filled circles in half, press edges together and crimp with a fork. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush egg glaze over the empanadas.
Bake the empanadas until golden and crisp, switching the position of the pans midway, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm, accompanied by Aji Sauce.

You can use 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour to replace 1 cup all-purpose flour.If you don't have the right-sized cookie cutter, an empty 28-ounce can or plastic lid will also work.Ingredient notes:Hulled pumpkin seeds, also know as pepitas, are medium-dark green and have a delicate nutty flavor. They are sold salted, roasted and raw, and can be found in the health-food sections of many supermarkets. Sherry vinegar, made from the popular Spanish fortified wine, has a subtly nutty flavor. It is great in salad dressings and can be found in most grocery stores.

Ingredients:

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour (see Tips)
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1-1 1/4 cups water

Filling:

1/2 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (see Ingredient notes)
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (see Ingredient notes) or red-wine vinegar
2 cups potatoes diced, cooked (about 8 small red potatoes) or frozen hash-brown potatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 scallions (white part only), chopped
1 hard-boiled egg chopped
1 egg mixed with 1/4 cup water for glaze
Aji Sauce (recipe follows)

Source: Food Network

Empanadas Amazon

Loading

Life in Guatemala

Loading

Polaroid 

My Lenses

Loading

Google Blog Empanadas

Culinary SOS: A Thai-Latin fusion of delectable proportions | The Republic
By Noelle Carter Los Angeles Times Dear SOS: Recently, my boyfriend and I went to try Zengo in Santa Monica Place, and I ordered its Thai chicken empanadas. It was amazing, and I ordered another round. I was so tempted to ask the chef for the recipe, ...
Empanadas with local vegetables easy to make for weeknight dinners
These family-sized beef-and-vegetable empanadas make for an easy weeknight dinner that everyone will love. Serve with a green salad topped with cucumber slices and tomato wedges. Giant Empanadas Serves 6 500 g (1 lb) extra-lean ground beef 3 cloves ...
Restaurant Review: Papa Luna's Empanadas
A nice, quick snack on a hot summer day with friends at the beach ? that's Pacific Beach's latest hotspot, Papa Luna's Empanadas, which opened just about a month ago. The restaurant was born when the man behind Papa Luna's Empanadas spent a stint in ...

Let me know your thoughts

by

bwcabound

My name is Tom Johnson, I live in Central Florida and work for a major community hospital in the business office and I.T. Department. It is my goal and... more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!