Quick Chicken And Olive Empanadas Recipes

CHICKEN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Pour olive oil into a saucepan; add onion, poblano, garlic, salt, pepper, chipotle, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and cooked chicken, pressing down as you go. Add currants.
• Place saucepan over high heat; cook until onions begin to soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes with green chiles. Pour in 1/3 cup water and mix to combine.
• Bring mixture to a simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquids are cooked down, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Chill thoroughly before use, 1 to 2 hours.
• While filling simmers, combine flour, salt, and sugar for dough in a bowl with your hand. Grate in cold butter, pausing as needed to combine. Drizzle in beaten egg and water. Mix with a fork until it starts to form a shaggy dough.
• Use your hands to squeeze mixture into a lump of dough; transfer to a work surface and knead into a ball of dough, 10 to 15 seconds.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Unwrap chilled dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Use a bench scraper to divide into 8 equal pieces.
• Roll each dough piece into an 8-inch circle.
• Drain any excess juice from filling. Top each dough circle with a rounded 1/2-cup measure of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle some pepper Jack cheese over top.
• Brush edges of each dough circle with a small amount of water to dampen; fold over and seal with fingertips, making sure to not trap in any pockets of air. Crimp using your fingertips or a fork.
• Combine beaten egg and 2 teaspoons water for egg wash. Transfer empanadas to the prepared baking sheet and brush over egg wash. Sprinkle with cayenne.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until browned and crispy on the edges, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

CHILEAN BEEF AND OLIVE EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender, 6-8 minutes, breaking up beef other into crumbles; do not drain. Stir in hard-boiled eggs, olives and spices; heat through. Remove from the heat., Brush beaten egg over edges of dough circles. Place 3 tablespoons filling on 1 side. Fold dough over filling. Crimp edges and press to seal. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with remaining beaten egg. Refrigerate for 15 minutes., Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes; serve warm with salsa, if desired.

CHICKEN AND OLIVE EMPANADAS WITH CHIMICHURRI SAUCE

Steps:

• For the chimichurri sauce: Combine the parsley, oregano, cilantro, garlic, crushed red pepper and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a food processor. Process until coarsely chopped. Add the vinegar and pulse to combine. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the oil and 2 tablespoons water. Set aside at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before serving. Makes 1 cup.)
• For the filling: Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Put the chicken thighs skin-side down in a large saucepan. Add the broth, parsley sprigs and bay leaf, turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until a meat thermometer inserted in a piece of chicken near the bone registers 150 degrees F, about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin and shred the meat into large pieces; you should have about 2 cups. Place in a medium bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the broth. (Strain and keep the rest to make delicious soup!).
• Wipe out the saucepan, heat it over medium heat and add the lard. Add the onion, season with salt and cook, stirring, until soft but not brown, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the cumin and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the 1/2 cup broth and let it bubble and thicken, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Pour the mixture over the chicken, add the olives and toss to combine. Taste and add salt if necessary-the filling should be aggressively seasoned, since it will be wrapped in the dough. Pop the chicken into the refrigerator just until cool, about 10 minutes.
• To make the empanadas: Place a small bowl of cool water by your work surface. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Working with 1 wrapper at a time and keeping the rest covered, brush a little water on one edge of the empanada wrapper. Put 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of the wrapper and fold in half. Use your finger to press out the air, making a border of about 1/2 inch around the filling. Press with a fork to seal the edges. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
• Bake the empanadas until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Serve warm with the chimichurri sauce.

CHEESY CHICKEN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
• Place a large saute pan over medium heat and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, jalapeno, garlic, green onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cheese, cream cheese, sauteed mixture and hot sauce together.
• Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Set aside. Sprinkle flour on your work surface and unroll the pie dough.
• Roll out each round to a 13-inch circle. Cut each crust into eight 4-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. You can knead the scraps and then roll out, if necessary. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture into the center of each round. Brush the edges with the egg wash and fold each circle in half. Gently press on the top of the empanada to release any air. Seal the edges with a fork and brush the top with the remaining egg wash. Sprinkle with chile powder. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Serve the chicken empanadas with the Chili Lime Dipping Sauce.
• Combine the yogurt, chipotle and lime zest and juice in a bowl.

CHICKEN EMPANADA WITH CHORIZO, RAISINS, AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning over once, about 6 minutes total, and transfer to a plate. Sauté onions, garlic, and bay leaves in fat remaining in skillet, stirring frequently, until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chorizo and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add olives, raisins, wine, and broth and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Return chicken to skillet along with any juices accumulated on plate, then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer chicken, covered, turning over once, until tender, 25 to 30 minutes total.
• Transfer chicken to a clean plate. (Sauce in skillet should be the consistency of heavy cream; if it's not, briskly simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.) When chicken is cool enough to handle, discard skin and bones and coarsely chop meat. Stir chicken into sauce and discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, then cool filling, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
• Form and bake empanada:
• Form dough into a ball, then wrap in oiled plastic wrap (oiled side in) and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 15- by 10-inch shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) with 1 tablespoon oil.
• Divide dough in half, then roll out 1 half (keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap) on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle and transfer to baking pan. Spread filling evenly over dough, leaving a 1-inch border, and moisten border with water. Roll out remaining dough in same manner, then arrange over filling and press edges together to seal. Roll edges in and press to form a decorative rim. Make a 1-inch hole (a steam vent) in center of empanada.
• Bake empanada 15 minutes, then brush crust with 3/4 tablespoon oil and bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more. Remove from oven and brush empanada with remaining 3/4 tablespoon oil. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a rack, then slide empanada onto rack using a wide metal spatula and cool to warm.
• Cut empanada into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.