Spicy empanadas – Spain

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Spicy Beef Empanadas

These golden-brown pastries bring together a buttery, flaky crust and a boldly spiced beef filling that’s rich with Latin American character. The filling combines tender ground beef with aromatic onions, garlic, and bell peppers, while hot chillies and warming spices like paprika and cumin provide layers of heat and depth. Black olives add a briny contrast, and the tomato puree enriched with beef stock creates a luscious sauce that binds everything together. The delicate homemade pastry, made with flour, butter, and egg, provides the perfect vessel for this vibrant filling, creating a portable feast that’s equally suited to casual dining or elegant entertaining.

 

Spicy empanadas
 
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Nutrition Information
  • Serves: 12 -14
  • Serving size: 100g
  • Fat: 16 grams
  • Saturated fat: 8.1 grams
  • Carbohydrates: grams
  • Sugar: 1.1 grams
  • Sodium: .83 grams
  • Fiber: 1.7 grams
  • Protein: 11 grams
  • Cholesterol: 28 gr
Recipe type: Empanadas
Cuisine: Latin American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
The name of empanada comes from the Spanish word " empaner" which means coated in bread. Okay I agree, they are hardly quite made in this way but its name gives the general idea. This is a pastry that seems to have its origins from Medieval times when Galicia in Spain was overrun by the Moors. These people from the Middle East brought their food with them, including pastries. It is probable that the empanada was a Galician take on the Arabian pastry from that era
Ingredients
For the pastry
  • All-purpose wheat flour - 500 grams
  • Baking powder - two teaspoons
  • Salt –one teaspoon
  • Egg – one large beaten
  • Butter - 150 grams (cold)
For the filling
  • Minced beef – 500 grams (5% fat)
  • Olive oil – one tablespoon
  • White Onion – one large finely sliced
  • Garlic – two cloves
  • Bell pepper –one medium (Red)
  • Hot red chillies- two (finely sliced) ( Cayenne, Seranno, Birds-eye or similar)
  • Paprika – one teaspoon
  • Ground Cumin – ½ teaspoon
  • Black olives – 10 to 15 (sliced)
  • Tomato puree – 1 tablespoon
  • Beef stock cube - half
Instructions
To make the pastry
  1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well
  2. Finely chop or grate the butter. Add to the dry ingredients and rub in until the flour has achieved a consistency resembling bread crumbs
  3. Add only enough cold water to bring the mixture to a firm dough. Place in a bowl and cover with cling-film. Place in the refrigerator for about an hour
For the filling
  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the mince and cook until browned. Remove from the stove and keep to one side on a separate plate
  2. In the pan that the mince was cooked in, add some more olive oil if necessary, Add the onions and fry until just beginning to change colour. Add the garlic and stir fry for two minutes
  3. Add the paprika and cumin.
  4. Add the bell pepper and chillies fry until beginning to soften
  5. Add the tomato puree and stock cube with a little water. Stir until the stock cube has dissolved
  6. Now add the olives
  7. Cook until the sauce has almost become dry
  8. Reintroduce the cooked mince to the pan and stir well
  9. Fry until thoroughly combined. Remove from stove and allow to cool
Making the empanadas
  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius
  2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 12 equal pieces
  3. One a flour-dusted board, roll the pieces into 150mm diameter circles with a thickness of 3 to 4 millimetres
  4. Spoon two to three tablespoons of the mince mixture into the centre of these circles. Brush the edges with the beaten egg fold the pastry over the meat mixture into a semi-circle ( resembling a Cornish pasty). Using a fork, join and seal the edges of the pastry
  5. Place the formed empanadas onto a lined baking tray. Brush them with the remaining beaten egg and place in the oven
  6. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden and crisp
  7. Serve with hot sauce or chimichurri
Notes
This recipe yields 12 - 14 empanadas of approximately 100 grams each

Keywords: Spicy empanadas with chillies

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