Empanadas

You doesn’t love a little pastry wrapped treat?

Here’s a classic time-tested recipe for empanadas:

Make a double batch of this perfectly easy pastry recipe and let it chill while you make the filling:

1 tablespoon annatto oil, plus more for painting pastry ~ heat 1/4 cup annatto seeds in 1/2 cup olive oil remove from heat and let sit for 30 mins or until you remember you left it sitting somewhere in the kitchen…

1 cup onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Chimayo Chili Blend

hot chili paste ~ to taste

1/2 pound ground beef

14 oz (1 can) diced tomato

1/2 teaspoon Adobo

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons raisins

2 tablespoons pimento stuffed black olives

2 boiled eggs

Sauté onions and garlic with annatto oil. Add Chimayo Chili Blend and pepper paste and cook a minute. Stir in beef, cook, breaking up lumps ~ about 4 minutes. Add raisins, olives, salt, Adobo, and tomatoes. Cook stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced but mixture is still moist. Spread on a plate to cool if using immediately ~ you can also refrigerate or freeze for later use.

Chop the boiled eggs and add to meat mixture right before making your empanadas.

I found that rolling out the dough a quarter at a time was the best way to get it as thinly rolled as I wanted, but you can do whatever you please! Cut it out in circles or squares or hearts, maybe you could do a dinosaur shape, that would be cool….. Whatever size and shape you choose to make, fill it up with a little meat mixture and stamp the edges closed with a fork. Brush tops with anatto oil.

Bake at 425°F for about 10 minutes. Serve warm or store in the refrigerator if you want to enjoy them another day. They can also be frozen if you want to enjoy them in a week or two.

XO

Charleston Spice Co.