9.23.2013

Monday-Yumday: Empanadas

A typical argentinian dish are the empanadas.
If you've been to any South-American or Latin-American country, you might have come across one of these. I know them from my home country, but I've already tried empanadas made by a Peruvian and also found them on my first trip to Spain. Though all of them taste different and each country has its own twist to it, the empanada reminds me of home.

In Argentina, you will find them in every "pizzería" and in a lot of restaurants. Otherwise, you can also buy the ready-made dough and only prepare the filling. The most typical filling is the one with minced beef, egg and olives. The one I like the most is the "empanada de jamón y queso" (with ham and cheese). But you will find a huge variety: from cheese and onion, chicken, caprese or even corn. They're delicious in every "flavour" and form (...mouthwatering)!!

There are very few dishes I miss from Argentina. Empanadas are definitely one of them!
So after moving to the UAE, I had to do something about it because I was really starting to crave empanadas. The only thing that was blocking me was the dough. The most important of it all. So after investigating and doing my research, I finally tried to to them. And the result was heavenly.
I remember I had put little salt, but everything else was perfect!!!

Since then, I've tried to improve my technique and get it right with the dough, but lately it seems to me that I haven't made any progress. How disappointing! Even last time when I asked my hubby if he wanted me to make them again, he suggested (he was actually trying to hide the fact that he didn't like them the last time) to do something else.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share with you this recipe. Of course, there are a lot of different recipes online and I'm not telling you that this one is the best there is. I'm only sharing a similar recipe to the one I used. And what I would also suggest is to try different fillings and decide which one you like the most.

Empanadas
(by Martha Stewart)

#chefK comments:

+ they're great when having a casual dinner party with friends. You don't necessarily  have to set up the table, since they can be eaten with the hands and a napkin.
+ kids usually love them!
+ if you make them smaller, you can use them as starter, snack or finger-food.

(-) don't let the having to prepare a dough situation scare you off. You'll feel great at the end!!
(-) when using cheese for the filling, make sure to close it properly, since otherwise you'll find the cheese outside the empanada.

One of my ham & cheese empanadas, pre-oven
Dinner is ready!!!
Have you done empanadas before? Will you try them?

Have a great week!! (for me it already started yesterday)


An extra pinch of empanadas: I didn't want to brag, but this guy knows what he's talking about when stating which city is the empanada capital of the world. This is their recipe.

PS: an ode to the empanada