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Empanadas mendocinas
Empanadas mendocinas: juicy baked beef empanadas from Mendoza, heavy on onion, with olives and egg
Mendoza's empanadas are all about juice. The filling uses roughly as much onion as beef, cooked only briefly so it stays sweet and wet, then gets folded with hard-boiled egg and a whole green olive in every pastry; the dough is a tender one made with beef fat. They come out of wood ovens across the province for Sundays, family gatherings and the grape harvest, and are eaten by hand, leaning forward, with a tomato and onion salad on the side. The classic error is filling the dough while the meat is still warm: the fat melts, the pastry turns soggy and the seal splits in the oven. Cool the filling completely, ideally overnight. Chef's tip: cut the beef into small cubes with a knife instead of buying mince; it stays juicier and gives the bite a Mendoza cook expects.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 3 ½ oz beef drippingmelted and cooled (rendered beef fat)
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 ½ tsp salt
For the filling
- 1 ⅛ lb beefrump or chuck, cut into 5 mm cubes (or coarse beef mince)
- 2 tbsp beef drippingor sunflower oil
- 1 ⅛ lb onionsabout 3, finely chopped
- 4 spring onionssliced
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ají molidoor mild chilli flakes
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 eggshard-boiled, peeled and chopped
- 24 green olivespitted
To glaze
- 1 eggbeaten
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Method
0/10 doneStep 1: Make the dough: mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour with 1 tsp salt in a bowl, add 3 ½ oz beef dripping and rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like coarse sand.
Step 2: Add 1 cup warm water a little at a time and knead for 5 minutes into a smooth, soft dough that doesn't stick to your hands. Wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5 minStep 3: For the filling, melt 2 tbsp beef dripping in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add 1 ⅛ lb onions and cook for 5 minutes, just until translucent; they should stay juicy, not brown.
5 minStep 4: Turn the heat to high, add 1 ⅛ lb beef and stir until it has lost all its pink colour, 4–5 minutes. Minced or chopped beef must be cooked through (160°F) because the filling only reheats in the oven.
5 minStep 5: Take the pan off the heat and stir in 4 spring onions, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp ají molido, ½ tsp black pepper and the rest of 1 ½ tsp salt. Spread on a tray, cool, then chill until cold and set, at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 6: Fold 3 eggs into the cold filling.
Step 7: Heat the oven to 425°F. Roll the dough out to 2–3 mm thick and cut out 12 cm circles, re-rolling the scraps once. You should get about 24.
Step 8: Put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the centre of each circle and press one of the 24 green olives into it. Wet the edge, fold into a half-moon and press to seal.
Step 9: Fold the edge over itself in small pleats to make the twisted repulgue, then set the empanadas on lined trays.
Step 10: Brush with 1 egg and bake on the top shelf until puffed and deep golden, with juices just bubbling at the seam. Rest 5 minutes before eating: the inside is very hot.
16 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does empanadas mendocinas take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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