If there is one thing I love it’s trying new foods from varying cultures. What I love more than going out to eat is making the food myself, and the quicker the better.
My fiancé and his family are from Perú, and one of my favorite things his dad makes are empanadas. An empanada is a moon-shaped piece of dough filled with the meat of your choice. It’s small enough to eat as a snack and easy enough to prepare for lunch the next day instead of the usual sandwich.
Every time his dad prepares these I have to eat a minimum of two. The smell of warm dough and perfectly seasoned ground beef fill the air. The crisp flakes on the outside of the empanada and the chewy interior melt in my mouth. I asked his dad for the recipe for an in-class assignment and have used it twice. Both times I got positive feedback from my peers on “my” empanadas.
Ingredients:
– Tapas para empanadas for the oven; these are small, rounded pieces of dough that can be found at most Latin grocery stores. I use the Fargo brand. One pack makes 16 empanadas.
– 1 pound of ground beef
– 2 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1/2 of an onion
– Fresh garlic to taste. I usually use one or two pieces from a clove.
– Salt to taste
– Pepper to taste
– 5 eggs
– Peruvian black olives (these can be omitted if you don’t like olives)
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Instructions:
1. Start by putting a small pot of water on the stove at medium-high heat and let the temperature rise to a boil.
2. While you are waiting on the water to boil, dice the half onion into small squares along with
the fresh garlic.
3. Place a quart-sized pan on medium heat on the stove with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
4. As the water comes to a boil put four of the five eggs into the pot. Let them cook until they are boiled all the way through. Save the last egg for later.
5. When your pan with the olive oil has heated up put the onion and garlic into the pan. Let the onion and garlic simmer, checking on them occasionally for 5-7 minutes.
6. Once the onion and garlic have been simmering for 5-7 minutes, add in the pound of ground beef and let it cook until there is no pink in it.
7. Finally, when the meat is cooked and the eggs are boiled, take the tapas para empanadas out of the refrigerator. You don’t want to take them out until you are ready to use them because if they get too soft they will be hard to seal.
8. Cut the boiled eggs into quarters.
9. Take the last egg, crack it open into a small bowl and beat it with a fork. You will use the last egg as an egg wash for the empanadas before you put them in the oven.
10. Fill each empanada with a tablespoon of ground beef, a quarter of an egg and a quarter of a Peruvian olive. Keep all of the ingredients in the center of the round piece of dough.
11. Fold the dough in half so it looks like a moon pie. To keep the edges sealed, put some water around the rim of the dough so when it comes together it stays together. Squeeze the edges to make sure they don’t come apart.
12. Take the egg from the small bowl and brush on the top of the empanada so it will give it a nice golden-brown glow and make it crisp on the outside. Put the empanadas in the oven at 350º F for 15 minutes.
Now you have 16 treats to share with friends and family. If you like them as much I do you will want to save some for lunch the next day. There are a few steps involved, but overall it’s pretty simple and easy.
Kelly St. Onge can be reached at kelly.st.onge@theminaretonline.com