Prime Cuts

Are you looking for something different to make over the holidays to serve as an appetizer or snack?  Impress your guests over the next couple weeks with some homemade empanadas.  At the the end of the post we give you a filling recipe but there are literally hundreds of fillings you could come up with.  Have fun and experiment!

A little note before you start reading – we did not have our complete thinking caps on the day we took the pictures for this post therefore we don’t have pictures of every step we mention.  However, we do have pictures of some of the more important steps.  Don’t hate us ok?

Dough Recipe

Dry Ingredients

4.5 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons salt
Few shakes smoked paprika
1/2 lb (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter in small pieces
3 tbsp lard

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup cold water
2 eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar

Dough Procedure

Note: It is important to have some type of stand mixer to properly prepare this dough, as it is fairly hard and will require a good bit of muscle to thoroughly combine.

1. Begin by mixing all the dry ingredients with your stand mixer on a low speed with the paddle attachment.
2. Let these ingredients combine for approx. 5 minutes so the fat can be cut into the flour.  When it is slightly lumpy like biscut dough you are ready.  It is better to under mix than to over mix in this case.
3. In a seperate container, thoroughly mix all the wet ingredients together.
4. With the stand mixer on low speed add the wet ingredients to the dry in a constant slow pour.
5. When combined the dough should form a ball and the sides of the mixer bowl will be clean, it won’t take very long.
6.  Your dough is now ready to work.  I find that it is easiest when cut in half. 
    
7. Flatten the dough a bit to make it easier to roll out, then on a lightly floured surface, proceed to roll out to an approximately 1/8″ thickness.
    
8. Once your dough is completely rolled out use a 5″ round biscut cutter to cut out circular “pie shells” from your rolled dough.  The remenent or part of the dough that is left over after cutting can be balled up and re rolled one time.  Just be sure to remove as much dry flour as possible before attempting this, it will be more difficult than the first batch, but is possible, and will produce an additional 1/3 – 1/4 more empanada shells.  Brush off any excess flour from the shells and place on a parchment lined sheet pan with out overlapping and place additional sheets of parchment between each layer of shells.  These can be refridgerated for up to 4 days for later use, just wrap the whole tray tightly with plastic to prevent air from drying out the shells.
    

Filling Your Empanadas

1.  To fill and prepare the shells as empanadas, you will need your favorite savory filling, and an egg wash of 2 parts beaten egg to one part water mixed thoroughly.  
2. Let the shells rest at room temp for approx. 10 minutes before beginning to fill, this will help to make them more pliable and easier to work with.   I like to work in an assembly line style doing four or five empanadas at a time.  
3. Place a tablespoon and a half of your filling mixture dead center of your shells.  
    
4. Next brush your egg wash on half of the inside diameter of the shell.  This is to form the seal that will lock the pastry together while cooking, dry sticks best to wet and vice versa.   
    
5. Next fold the shell on top of itself pressing the dry edge against the egg washed edge, and press firmly to seal.  
    
6. After I do this I like to use the tines of a fork to decoratively crimp the edges, then I take my biscuit cutter to round out the edge for presentation and to eliminate any misshaped or excess dough from pressing.   Your empanadas are now ready to be transferred to sheet pan lined with parchment and lightly sprayed with non stick baking spray.   
7. To finish simply egg wash over the tops of the empanadas thoroughly, poke a small vent hole for the steam with a samll skewer and lightly sprinkle with salt,  bake at 350 for 13 minutes Let cool breifly, then enjoy!
    

 Joe’s Favorite Empanada Filling

This one couldn’t be more simple…

Ingredients

1 small deli style ham (pre-cooked)
Some shredded provolone cheese (the older the better)
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Good quality balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. Begin by shredding the ham on a box grater, (or chopping it finely)
2. You want about 2 cups shredded ham
3. Add approx 1-1 1/2 cups provolone
4. Season lightly with salt, pepper, and oregano
5. Add approx 1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vin.
6. Mix thoroughly to combine, check for taste, and then ball the ham mixture tightly into 1.5 teaspoon amounts, and use to fill your empanadas,  you should get approx. 15 -20 empanadas. 

Enjoy!

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