Little Meat Empanadas Empanadillas De Carne Recipes

EMPANADAS DE CARNE (MEAT EMPANADAS)

Steps:

• To make the pastry: In a large bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, curry, salt and turmeric. Cut in the butter and shortening until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Pour water in and make a soft dough. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in wax paper. Chill for 1 hour.
• To make the filling: In a small bowl, mix the water with the breadcrumbs and let it sit while you prepare everything else. In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic until soft. Place in a small bowl and set aside. Increase the heat to high. In the same pan, cook the beef until it is no longer pink. Drain the fat and stir in the onion mix, curry, salt, thyme, black and cayenne peppers. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
• Assembly: Divide pastry in half and roll 2 long sausage shapes. Slice each roll crosswise into roughly 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 6" circle. Spoon some filling into the circle. Wet the edges of the circle with a little water and fold in half, making sure the edges meet. Trim into a neat half moon shape and imprint the edges with fork prongs.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 28 minutes or until the pastry is lightly brown.

LITTLE MEAT EMPANADAS: EMPANADILLAS DE CARNE

Steps:

• The beef should be thawed, if frozen, set aside. In a large saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, and pepper and saute. When they're soft, add the oregano, tomato sauce, raisins, and chopped olives. This should be at medium heat from now on. Add the ground beef.
• Pour the wine over the beef mixture and cover to cook through. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Once its almost cooked, uncover, and let dry up to a juicy but dry look to it.
• Never use if it is runny. That's the trick.
• Sift the flour with the baking powder and the salt. Pour this into a large bowl. Pour in the rest of the ingredients. Work this with a fork, trying to bring together all the ingredients but never beating or mixing. Once it?s all "together" and not sticky...you're ready to make Empanadillas.
• ASSEMBLING THE EMPANADILLAS: Prepare your table by spreading some flour to keep the mixture from sticking. You will need a roller, a knife and a fork. Your filling should be at hand. Take a small amount of the flour mixture (a ball that can fit in your hand) and you roll it out in the shape of a plate to a thickness of about 1/8-inch.
• Take a spoonful of the filling and place it in the middle half of the pastry and fold the top over the filling to look like a half moon. Seal the inside of the pastry by wetting your fingers with water and rubbing the border of the half moon. Take a knife and cut a perfect pastry half-moon. Now take the fork and press down the borders of the circular shape to seal. Fry the half moon in hot oil.

ARGENTINEAN-INSPIRED BEEF MINI EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Prepare filling: Cook ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat until vegetables are tender and beef is browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Add olives, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir in chopped eggs.
• Scrape mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, 1 to 2 hours; this ensures the dough will not be soggy when the empanadas are baked.
• Prepare dough: Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Whisk cold water, egg, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Pour into the dry ingredients and blend with a fork. Use your hands to finish blending the ingredients until they come together in a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut circles, rerolling the scraps as necessary. I got about 18 circles.
• Hold each circle in your hand and place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center. Gently fold the ends over the top and press to seal all the way around. Reserve extra filling for another use.
• Set empanadas on a baking sheet. Press around the sealed edges with a fork if desired.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on the bottoms, about 18 minutes. Flip and bake until the other side is browned, about 5 more minutes.

EMPANADILLAS DE CARNE

Steps:

• In a skillet heat the oils and brown the meats. Add the seasonings, onion, garlic and jalapeno. Saute until tender. Drain any excess fat. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until very thick. Cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Roll the pastry dough out on a floured surface. Cut into 2" rounds. Place 1 tbsp of meat mixture on each round. Fold the round in half and crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Brush the pastry with egg whites. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

MEAT FILLED EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Empanada Dough: Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Cut in shortening, mixture should be sandy. Add the egg and wine, pulse until dough comes together in a ball. The dough should be pliable; if not add more wine.
• Assembly: Separate the dough into 3 balls. Roll the first ball out until it is 1/4 inch thick. With a 6-inch round cutter, cut circles out of all the dough. Remove the edges and save for the next roll. Fill each circle with about 2 1/2 tablespoons in the center of the dough.
• Dip a small brush in room temperature water, run the brush around the edge of the dough. Close 1 side to the other forming a half moon shape. Close the edges pressing lightly with the back of a fork.
• In a deep saute pan, heat 4 to 5 inches of canola oil on medium high heat to 360 degrees F. Add the empanadas turn over constantly until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.