Argentinian Style Empanadas

Let’s talk empanadas. You probably have had them in all different shapes and forms. There is no right or wrong way of making them. Everyone has their own recipe for them, baked or fried. Central American style empanadas are stuffed with rice and chopped meat with a soft flour dough or corn tortilla dough, both deep fried. One of Colombia’s many empanadas are made from masarepa dough, filled with a chicken/potatoes mixture or a meat/potatoes mixture, also deep fried. I can go through every country in Latin America but the one that stands out to me the most is the Argentinian style empanadas, Empanadas Mendocinas (one of many different kinds of empanadas in Argentina).

This unique and delicious empanada is well known for its filling that includes chopped meat, hard boiled eggs, olives and raisins. Did I get your attention yet? These baked empanadas are wrapped in a somewhat flaky dough that is not at all hard to make. The filling itself it’s so good, you can eat it as is with some good old plain white rice. Chimichurri sauce is a must have with this popular Argentinian snack. You can find a recipe HERE. If you don’t want to be bothered with making your own empanada dough, you can use puff pastry instead. Enjoy the rest of your week!

For the dough:

1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk

 

Place the milk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Warn the milk up until the butter is melted. Let it cool slightly. In the bowl of an electric mixer set with the dough attachment, add the flour salt and egg yolk. Mix on low speed. Little by little, add the milk/butter mixture to the flour. Set the speed to high and mix until the dough is smooth, about 4 minutes. Let the dough rest for 1 hour. Divide the dough in 12 pieces, shape the pieces into rounds and let it rest for 30 minutes more. 

For the filling

3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 pound of ground beef
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dry oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup green pitted olives
2 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped 

 

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and peppers. Cook for 8 minutes or until the vegetables starts to soften. Add the meat, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well and cook until the meat is brown, about 10 minutes. Add the raisins and green olives and cook for 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and gently mix in the hardboiled eggs. Let the filling cool completely.  Make the egg wash by putting the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

 

To bake make an egg wash:

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon of heavy cream or whole milk

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
Stretch the dough using a rolling pin (not too thin). Spoon some of the filling, fold the dough and seal the edges using your fingers, twisting the edge as you go. Place the empanadas in the prepared baking sheet, brush the top with the egg wash and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Don't over bake of the dough will become to hard. Enjoy with chimichurri sauce.