Argentine Beef Empanadas
Always a crowd pleaser. Perfect for a weekend lunch with a green salad or as a snack with drinks. Don’t forget the chilli sauce.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
500 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
150 grams cold salted butter
1 egg (for egg wash)
For the filling:
260 grams sirloin steak, very finely chopped
1 onion, very finely chopped
1 red chilli, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red pepper, very finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 heaped teaspoon grund cumin
1/2 a beef stock cube
Method
For the pastry:
In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Cut butter into small cubes, and rub it into the flour mixture with your hands, until it looks like fine breadcrumbs (around 10 minutes).
Add cold water into the mixture, adding 1/4 cup little by little, until the dough comes together (be careful not to add too much water). Wrap in clingfilm and put in fridge to rest for 1 hour.
For the filling:
Slice the beef as fine as possible and set aside in a bowl. Chop the onion, garlic, pepper and chilli also as fine as possible - this will ensure the filling comes together correctly in the pastry. Set aside.
Put 1 tbsp of oil into a large non stick frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the beef for 2 minutes until browned. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the juices behind in the pan.
Turn the frying pan on to medium-low heat and begin to fry the onion, garlic, pepper and chilli. Add the cumin and paprika, and continue to fry, stirring continuously until vegetables are soft and translucent (about 10 minutes).
Add the tomato purée to the pan, and crumble the beef stock cube in. Fry for a minute, mixing it all together. Put temperature up to medium, and add 100ml of boiling water to the pan. Bring it to the boil, then lower the heat to medium allowing it to simmer for around 10 minutes, until all the liquid has almost entirely evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take pan off heat and let mixture cool completely.
Preheat oven to 190° celcius
Take pastry out of the fridge, and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each portion into a ball in your hand, then roll it flat with a rolling pin to disks of around 12cm diameter (not too thin).
Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into the centre of each disk. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash, then fold one end to the other, creating a crescent shape. press down the edges making sure no air is left between filling and pastry. Press the edges with a fork to seal.
Place Empanadas on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and brush them with the egg wash. Bake in hot oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.