Home-made Empanadas

My favorite foods are Jamaican Patties, Pizza and the Empanada. You could say that I’ m a finger food person especially now that I avoid eating rice for the fear that I would get so addicted to eating it again and thus makes me look wider, not to mention the crazy hugeness it could give my arms. And it is so fortunate of me that my Nanay came home which means I get to taste my all-time favorite and long-time craved Empanada again. (I know that there are Empanadas sold almost everywhere but I swear, to me, nothing beats my Nanay’s.) Because of my addiction to this snack, I insisted on learning it from her and it’s so cruel of me not to share to you what I learned. But before anything else, I AM NOT A CHEF, so if there are errors or anything, I beg for your understanding.

What we need:

For the dough

4 cups all purpose flour (APF)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 1/4 cup water

For the filling

1 whole  garlic (minced)

3 or 4 medium sized onion (sliced)

1/2 kilo ground pork or beef

2 carrots

3 potatoes

1 cup green peas

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Combine flour, egg, salt, oil, and water in a big bowl.

Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.

After you are satisfied with the dough, leave for half an hour in a covered bowl to rise.

Then, after half an hour, get the dough and knead it briefly then make small balls out of it.

Using the rolling pin, flatten the dough balls.

Do your “bestest” best to make it look close to a circle to make it look better if served.

You may prepare the filling while you were waiting for the dough to rise earlier or someone can cook it while you are preparing the dough just like me and my Nanay did. Saute onions, garlic, ground pork or beef, carrots, potatoes and green peas. Don’t forget the salt and pepper to taste.

After the filling is cooked, place a tablespoon on the flattened dough or you may add more if you want. But for me, I like the dough more, so not so much filling. Hihi.

YUM! 🙂

Then, how will I say this? Uhm… Fold the dough over the filling like this…

Seal the dough by pressing on the edges or by folding them.

And for someone like me who wants to see beautifully served foods, Nanay showed me a trick to make it look more enticing to the eyes. Note: I enjoy doing this even though Nanay kept telling me that I don’t have to do it ’cause it will taste just the same.

We filled a whole tray!

Deep fry them in oil until light brown. Take note that when they get  browner than this, they might taste a bit overcooked.

And it’s done! (Put them on absorbent papers to remove too much oil before serving.)

• May 4, 2012
• Uncategorized
• 3 Comments