Beef Empanadas Recipe

1. Make the dough: place flour, salt and butter cubes into a food processor, pulse until crumbly. Add egg and 1/3 cup (80ml) of cold water, pulse just until ball of dough forms, if needed, add more water while processing.
2. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile make the filling: heat oil in a large pan or skillet. Add chopped onion and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add crushed garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes more. Add diced bell pepper, diced carrot and cook for 4-5 minutes, until tender.
4. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Add tomato paste, cook, stirring, for 1 minute. add water/beef broth, spices and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, add hard boiled eggs, olives, spring onions, and chopped parsley. Stir well and set aside to cool.
5. Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
6. Assembly: roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then cut into 5-inch (12.5cm) circles. Combine leftover dough and roll out again, cut into circles again.
7. Put about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of each circle. Brush the edges with water. Wrap dough around filling to form empanada, pressing edges together. Fold edge back and finish by pinching little pleats as shown in the video or crimping with a fork. Arrange the empanadas on a baking try lined with parchment paper. Brush with beaten egg
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
9. Serve warm.

Notes:

What Is an Empanada?

An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover pastry filled that usually filled with meat, chicken, pork, cheese, corn or other fillings. The empanadas are popular in Latin American countries, Southern European, Indonesian, and the Philippines cultures. The name comes from the Spanish verb empanar, which means “enbreaded", that is, wrapped or coated in bread. They are made by folding dough over a filling, and then cooking the resulting turnover, either by baking or frying.

Can we make empanadas ahead?

The filling can be make 2-3 days ahead and stored in the fridge until ready to use.

The whole empanadas can be freeze before baking: place them on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Then, wrap tightly in plastic and freeze in plastic bags or containers up to 2 months. When ready to use, thaw, brush with beaten egg and bake.

How to store empanadas?

The empanadas are at their best immediately after baking, but they can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

How to make empanadas dough without food processor?

If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the dough by hand; in a large bowl mix together flour and salt. Add cubed butter and rub it with the flour until you get a crumbly texture. Beat egg with cold water and add it to the flour mixture, mix until dough is formed. Do not over mix! Wrap the dough with cling film and refrigerate for 60 minutes.

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