Recipe: Empanadas from Argentina
An empanada is a savoury snack that you can buy in many Latin American countries, though it may go by a different name. I first came across the empanada in Argentina. An empanada is a pastry filled with a filling of your choice. The most well-known filling is seasoned minced meat, but you can actually use whatever you fancy.
Sounds good? Below you’ll find instructions on how to make an empanada. I’ve chosen three different fillings, so there’s something for everyone. Or, of course, you could make all three.
The pastry for 10–12 empanadas
Ingredients for the pastry:
If you’re short on time, opt for a packet of ready-made puff pastry.
Want to make your own pastry? Here’s what you’ll need:
- 300 grams of flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 175 grams of butter
- 3–4 tbsp cold water
- 0.5 tsp salt
Preparing the pastry:
- Put the flour, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl and knead into a dough
- Slowly add the cold water and continue to knead the dough until you have a smooth, even ball
- Wrap the dough in cling film or cover it with a clean tea towel, then place it in the fridge for an hour
- In the meantime, you can make the filling; you can see the method below
- After an hour, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out until it is about 1 centimetre thick
- Cut out circles about 10–12 centimetres thick from the pastry and repeat this until all the pastry is used up
- The pastry is ready; read below for instructions on how to make the filling and assemble the empanadas.
The filling for an empanada, makes 10–12 empanadas
You can make empanadas with a variety of fillings. Below, I’ve set out three different fillings:
Spiced minced meat
Ingredients:
- 250 grams of minced beef
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 40 grams of olives
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Preparation of the spiced minced meat filling:
- Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat
- Fry the onion and garlic for 2–3 minutes
- Add the paprika, cumin, oregano and minced meat, and fry until the minced meat is cooked through
- Finally, add the egg, olives, salt and pepper, and the filling is ready.
Tuna
Ingredients:
- 2 tins of tuna
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Preparation of the tuna filling:
- Chop the onion and pepper into small pieces
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat
- Fry the onion and pepper in this for 2–3 minutes
- Next, add the tuna, oregano, egg, salt and pepper. Heat through briefly and the filling is ready.
Cheese
Ingredients:
- 50 grams of grated mozzarella
- 50 grams of grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 onion
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper
Preparation of the cheese filling:
- Chop the onion and place it in a bowl
- Add the two types of cheese, paprika and oregano
- Mix everything together well and add salt and pepper to taste. The filling is ready.