My favorite food is dumplings. Korean mandu, Japanese gyoza/shumai, Chinese xia long bao… oh my God, so good. Who doesn’t love anything shaped like a pocket and stuffed with meaty stuff?
Well, I had the good fortune of being born and raised in Peru and I grew up eating empanadas, which to me are just a breaded version of dumplings. I had forgotten how much I loved empanadas until a work trip landed me in Peru for several months. Empanadas in South Florida are usually Cuban or Colombian, and therefore deep fried, which I am not a fan of. Peruvian empanadas, on the other hand, are filled with seasoned ground beef, hard boiled eggs, raisins, black olives, and baked. They are then sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and served with tons of lime. While I was in Peru, we bought a box every weekend from Pastipán, a bakery in the Surco neighborhood of Lima. Unfortunately, there are no Peruvian bakeries where I currently live, so I make my own version every now and then.
Whenever I make empanadas, I tend to make a big batch because they are extremely labor intensive. I keep a stash of these guys frozen since they can be popped into the oven for a quick meal. And since I share them with friends, I simplify the recipe, omitting the raisins and olives since a lot of people seem to be picky about those particular ingredients. I also skip the powdered sugar but I think they taste much better with a hint of sweet.
I follow a recipe that I’ve refined for the masa (dough) but I just eyeball the ingredients for the filling. I’ve done my best to transcribe it below.
MASA
Ingredients: (makes enough for 10-12 large empanadas but I usually make 20-24 medium ones using this recipe)
- 4 cups flour
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, chilled
- 12 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening, chilled
- 3/4 – 1 cup water
- 2 egg yolks
Directions:
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Stir in the salt and the sugar.
- Blend the butter and shortening (or lard) into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter (or with two knives), until well blended.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 3/4 cups water. Stir the water/egg into the flour mixture, a little at a time, until the dough starts to come together smoothly. Keep kneading the dough, adding more water/egg a little bit at a time as necessary (you made need a few tablespoons extra of water), until the dough is smooth (the dough will seem a bit shaggy until it has thoroughly chilled).
- Cover the dough with saran wrap and refrigerate for about an hour (it can also be kept overnight). The dough should be soft and smooth, and not elastic – if you poke a hole in it with your finger, the indentation should remain.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll into desired thickness.
The dough should look something like this after chilling in the fridge
FILLING
Ingredients:
- 1 to 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
- 3 large white onions, diced
- 2-3 tablespoons cumin (adjust to taste)
- a generous palmful of paprika (adjust to desired heat)
- sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cube beef bouillon, dissolved in one cup of hot water
- 1-2 tablespoons flour
- 6-8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 2 egg yolks mixed with a splash of milk (to brush empanadas)
Directions:
- Use a very large pan or skillet and sautée the diced onion in olive oil and a small pat of butter on high heat until translucent.
- Add the lean ground beef to the sautéed onions. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the cumin and paprika, adjusting to reach desired spice level.
- When the beef is mostly cooked through, pour the beef bouillon broth into the pan and simmer for several minutes.
- Turn the heat down to low. As the beef mixture is simmering, add about 1-2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the liquid in the pan, approximately 5-10 minutes. Remove the ground beef filling from heat and let cool.
- To assemble the empanadas, roll out a 6-8 inch wide disk and add desired amount of ground beef filling. The thickness and size of the empanada will depend on your preference (mine are probably 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches wide). I stuff my empanadas with 2-3 generous spoonfuls of beef. Add several pieces of chopped egg to the center of the empanada.
- Brush the edges with water and seal the empanada securely, either with a fork or by folding the edges over.
- Brush the tops of the empanadas with a pastry brush and the egg yolk/milk mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden.
The eggs do not need to look pretty
The ground beef filling will be extremely red because of the paprika. Don’t overfill; leave room for egg
I really think that it helps to use a French rolling pin for rolling out dough. Handles on traditional rolling pins just get in the way
The empanadas can be placed relatively close to one another on a baking sheet. I usually don’t do this but it is probably helpful to line the baking sheet with parchment or foil for easy removal
After a good brushing of the egg yolk/milk, they’re ready to go into the oven
If the filling is too runny, it will come out at the seams while baking, like in my first batch. But I happen to like that caramelized crunch of the sauce
Peruvian empanadas are ALWAYS enjoyed with a lot of fresh lime wedges. Absolutely no lemon.
yes, i'll have another 