Empanadas

If you are looking for great finger-food to serve at your super bowl party, do I have a recipe for you: empanadas. They are the Latin American answer to the calzone, only smaller. Although I have always liked them, I had never made them until a few weeks ago, because I thought they were a time-consuming dish. I was wrong! They are very easy to make and a crowd pleaser.

A few weeks ago, my friend Jen and I got together to cook. She loves empanadas and wanted to learn how to make them. We wanted to try different types of empanadas and decided to make three very different recipes: meat empanadas (this recipe); crab empanadas (which we did not like, so I’m not posting the recipe ever); and sweet empanadas (delicious and I promise I will post the recipe soon). While I tackled the crab empanadas, Jen started preparing the filling for the meat empanadas. We were having a fine time: drinking wine, talking non-stop, and trying to follow the recipes. Now, that is multi-tasking! But sometimes multitasking is not a good idea. We put two tablespoons of crushed hot red pepper on the meat, instead of the one the recipe called for. Fortunately, we noticed our mistake before stirring the red pepper with the meat. We tried to take some if it out unsuccessfully. The meat was SPICY! And that is coming from someone who loves spicy food. Luckily the crust tamed down the spiciness of the filling (although Jen may disagree) and the empanadas turned out delicious.

Lesson of the day: Don’t drink (too much) and cook!

Empanadas Argentinas

Prep time: 20 min.

Cook time: 30 min.

Comments: You can find the empanadas dough discs at the grocery store in the frozen food section. If your grocery store doesn’t carry them, use puff pastry. Also, we did not fry the empanadas. We made an egg wash to brush the empanadas and baked them in the oven until golden (350 F).

Ingredients:

·         1 pound of ground beef

·         5 to 6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated

·         ½ cup seedless raisins

·         2 tablespoons oregano

·         1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

·         1 tablespoon ground cumin

·         2 tablespoons paprika

·         2 roasted peppers diced

·         10 green olives pitted

·         3 eggs, hard boiled and sliced

·         Empanadas dough discs (you will need approximately 20 discs, maybe more, depending on their size)

·         Salt & pepper

·         1 tablespoon oil.

1. In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the ground beef and white scallions. Sauté until lightly browned. Add the raisins and spices and cook until meat is cooked through. Stir in the rest of the scallions and roasted peppers. Let mixture cool.

2. Fill empanada discs with meat, add 1 olive and one slice of egg. Seal the empanada.

3. Preheat oil in a deep pot. When the temperature of the oil reaches 375 F., deep fry the empanadas in the oil for about three minutes. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.