First things first. I've been asked to share my recipe for empanadas (I called my mom and made them for the first time about a week ago). Here's what they turned out looking like:
Here's the recipe that I used (adjust as necessary):
1 - 5lb chuck of ground beef browned (I have a huge family)
1 bunch of green onions chopped (about 12 green onions)
3 medium shallots finely chopped (or onions, I prefer yellow)
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp rosemary leaves
1 small can tomato sauce (I use the 8oz. can Hunt's tomato sauce, no salt added)
4 tbsp Goya © Adobo
2 tbsp Johnny's Seasoning ©
3-4 egg yolks (to brush on empanadas if you're going to bake them)
It should be noted that some empanadas are made with pitted green olives added to the meat, or chopped hard boiled eggs. I decided not to use either this time, though I love the taste of the hard boiled eggs with the meat. You can add many things if it's your preference to the empanadas. Also, the canned tomato sauce comes in a few flavor varieties, I just use the plain because I'm already using a lot of things to flavor the meat.
You want to cook as much of the fat out of the ground beef as possible.
Brown the ground beef in a large-sized frying pan. When the meat is browned, there will be a lot of grease in the pan, strain the meat and pour the grease into an old coffee can or dispose of it as you prefer. Keep the pan you cooked the ground beef in on the burner after you're done.
Add some olive oil to the pan, (about 2 tbsp) wait til the olive oil is hot enough (it will sizzle when you add anything) and toss the shallots, green onions, garlic, cumin, paprika and rosemary leaves. Sauté these and add 2 tbsp of the Goya © Adobo and 2 tbsp of Johnny's Seasoning ©. Once the garlic and shallots are browned, add the meat a bit at a time and mix, adding the rest of the Goya © Adobo on the meat (you might want to add more or less depending on your tastes).
When you've got the meat and other ingredients mixed, add the 8oz can of tomato sauce and mix again. Make sure the meat is well cooked and when it is done, set to the side.
I made the dough myself for the empanada "tapas." However, I prefer to use the pre-made ones. They sell these in most Latin stores and they look like this;
Goya © also makes some and they look like this (sorry about the tiny picture);
Both of those work really well and are delicious.
Now when you look at the packages, they will say something like, "para horno" for the oven. However, you can fry them if you'd like as well. I baked mine, I didn't fry because it's a lot of oil, messy and not really all that healthy considering.
To fill the tapas, you want to have some counter top space and have some flour laid out. Put the tapas on the counter top, use a roller and spread some flour on them, roller the tapas out a little, fill center of the tapas with about 1-1 1/2 tbsp of the meat (if you're adding olives or sliced hardboiled eggs, now's the time to put it in the middle). Fold the tapa in half to cover the meat, and use a fork to seal the edges. (There are tapa closers that they sell as well, but I think the fork method works much better) Alternately, you can fold the edges decoratively if you're creative and dexterous enough (I'm not).
If you're going to bake them, crack 3-4 eggs (depending on how many empanadas you're making), separate the yolks, get rid of the whites, beat the yolks and brush on the tops of the empanadas. Cook at 400 ° F for about 30 minutes. (Cooking times will vary). The glaze on the top will be brown and the dough will be light brown.
If you do make them, please share pictures!
