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Empanadas

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Ingredients
  

Pino:

  • 1 pound lean ground beef or 12 ounces ground beef substitute (I like the “Gardein product)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons butter & 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 4 medium onions cut in half then sliced very thinly
  • 2 Tablespoons paprika
  • A sprinkle of cayenne powder
  • In Chile Aji Picante is added, a good substitute would be Sriracha Sauce, use just a little bit
  • 1 Tablespoon flour diluted in 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 - 1 cup hot water
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 3/4 cup sliced large pimento-stuffed olives

Empanada Dough:

  • This is enough for 12 empanadas; for the Pino recipe, you will need to make 2 batches of the dough to make 24 empanadas.
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 2 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening in small pieces
  • 1/3 cup cold water
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Instructions
 

Pino:

  • In a large saucepan, fry the onion slices in the butter/olive oil mixture until their volume is reduced by about half, do not brown. You may add water, a teaspoon at a time to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  • Add 2 Tablespoons paprika to the onions and mix well. If using ground beef, cook lightly in another pan and break up any chunks. Drain off accumulated fat before adding to the onion mixture. If using a meat substitute, it is not necessary to drain off any fat. Simply add it to the onions.
  • Dilute the flour in 1/2 cup cold water, mix well and add to the meat and onion mixture. And cook for about 5 minutes. If the mixture seems thick, add some water or broth, but you do not want the mixture to be watery.
  • You can add the raisins and green olives at this point (which I like to do) or add a few raisins and olives to each empanada as you make them. There will probably be enough mixture to make about 24 empanadas.
  • Let the meat mixture cool about 1/2 hour before assembling the empanadas. Into each disc of dough (recipe to follow), place about 1/8 of a wedge of hard-boiled egg, 2-3 teaspoons of Pino, and raisins and olives if you have not already added them. Fold over the disc and seal the edges by moistening with water, then folding the pastry along the edge.
  • Place on a cookie sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Brush with an egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes until brown on top.

Empanada Dough:

  • Using a food processor, combine flour and salt, then add butter and shortening and pulse the mixture until the fats are incorporated throughout the flour, coarser than corn meal.
  • Whisk together water, egg, and vinegar in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until the dough starts to come together. The dough will be somewhat sticky, so you will need to work on a floured surface and flour your hands.
  • The way I find easiest to make the discs is to cut the dough into 12 equal size pieces and roll and flatten the dough out in my palm. Then I place it on a flowered surface and roll it out until the disc is about 5-6 inches in diameter. I stack the discs between waxed paper as I make them, and when I have finished with all the dough, the discs are refrigerated for 1 hour. Then it is time to put the empanadas together.