Empanada Recipe

You know that supper will be a success when this Empanada recipe is served!

Whilst it seems that this Empanada recipe makes a lot, you will be surprised at how quickly they disappear! Remember these when you are wanting healthy snack recipes for kids who are constantly marauding the kitchen in search of food - they fill the gaps in a nutritious way!

The great thing about this Empanada recipe is that you can use any filling, from chicken to meat. These versatile little gems make good use of leftovers from Quick and Easy Ground Beef, Curried Mince, Ground Beef Goulash or some of the other Easy Recipes for Ground Beef. You can also play around with the size of the empanadas - you can make them bigger (but then make the pastry a little thicker) or really tiny bite-size morsels. If you are pushed for time, use commercial shortcrust pasty.

Ingredients:

Pastry recipe:

Filling:

You will need a casserole dish with a lid. It is worth using one that can be used on the hob as well to save on washing-up.

Method:

1. Start with the pastry: mix together the flour and salt. Rub in the butter. Slowly add enough liquid so that you form a soft dough. Knead gently and lightly until the dough just comes together. Avoid over-handling the dough or else it will become tough. Wrap the dough in grease-proof paper and refrigerate for half and hour. For processor method see Quiche Crust Recipe.
2. To make the empanadas: break off small pieces of dough the size of walnuts. Roll out on a floured board so that each disc is very thin - less than ¹⁄₈" / 3mm thick or until the disc is about 4½ " / 12 cm in diameter.
3. Heat the oven to 350° F / 180° C.
4. Filling: brown the ground beef in 4 - 5 batches. If you attempt to brown it all at once, you will land up with a gray, watery mass.
5. Brown the onions until they are a deep caramel color. This helps to give the dish flavor. Add the crushed garlic and red bell pepper. Continue to fry for another couple of minutes until the pepper has softened.
6. Add the cumin seeds, paprika, cinnamon, chili powder, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Add the beef stock. Place the lid on the casserole pan. Bake the ground beef for between 1 - 2 hours. The longer you cook it the softer and richer the end result will be. Just check every half hour to see that there is enough liquid and add a little more if necessary. Be careful: you don't want a very wet mixture as this will render your pastry soggy. You want your ground beef to be rich and tasty, but with very little gravy. If there is too much gravy, you can put the casserole pan on top of the hob. Turn the heat up high to reduce the liquid.
7. Add the olives and raisins.
8. Allow the filling to cool slightly before filling the pastry shells.
9. To assemble: place a tablespoon or two of filling into the middle of each pastry disc. Fold the pastry over the filling to form a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges together with your fingertips.
10. Place the empanadas on baking sheets. You may, if you wish, brush them with a little melted butter, but I don't usually worry with this. Bake at 400° F / 200 ° C for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
11. Serve this Empanada recipe with a big salad. Leftovers are delicious cold.

Meal planning tip for your Empanada recipe - use leftovers from:

See our wide range of Easy Recipes for Ground Beef.

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