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Empanadas tucumanas
Empanadas tucumanas: small hand-cut beef empanadas with onion and cumin, crimped by hand
ArgentinianTucumán takes its empanadas so seriously that the town of Famaillá holds a national empanada festival every September, and judges count the pleats. The local style is small and juicy, filled with beef cut by hand with a knife (never minced), lots of white onion and spring onion, cumin, paprika and hard-boiled egg, and the dough is made with beef fat. They are baked very hot, traditionally in a clay oven, until blistered, and eaten standing up at peñas, football matches or family lunches, a drop of lemon squeezed in. The beef filling must reach 71 °C; it cooks first in the pan and again in the oven. A dry filling is the mistake to avoid: cook the onion slowly and let the filling cool so the fat sets, which turns to juice in the oven. Chef's tip: chill the filling overnight if you can; cold filling is easier to spoon and the empanadas come out juicier.
- Total time
- 105 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 3 ½ oz beef drippingmelted, or vegetable shortening
- 1 cup warm waterwith 1 tsp salt dissolved in it
For the filling
- 1 ⅓ lb beef rump or flankcut by hand into 5 mm cubes
- 1 ¾ oz beef drippingor vegetable oil
- 3 white onionsfinely chopped
- 6 spring onionsfinely chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 3 eggshard-boiled and chopped
To serve
- 1 lemon (optional)in wedges
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour with 3 ½ oz beef dripping and 1 cup warm water and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and soft. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
30 minStep 2: Melt 1 ¾ oz beef dripping in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook 3 white onions for 15 minutes, until very soft and sweet but not browned.
15 minStep 3: Add 1 ⅓ lb beef rump or flank and turn the heat up to medium. Stir for 5 minutes, until the meat has lost its red colour and reaches 160°F.
5 minStep 4: Stir in 6 spring onions, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, ½ tsp dried chilli flakes and 1 ½ tsp salt and cook for 2 minutes. Spread on a tray, cool and chill for at least 1 hour, until the fat sets.
2 minStep 5: Heat the oven as hot as it goes, 475°F (450°F fan), with a baking tray inside. Roll the dough to 2 mm and cut 12 cm circles; you should get about 24.
Step 6: Put a heaped tablespoon of cold filling and a little of 3 eggs on each circle. Wet the edge, fold over and press, then crimp the edge into a rope of 13 pleats by folding and pinching it over itself.
Step 7: Bake on the hot tray for 10–12 minutes, until blistered and golden brown. Serve hot with 1 lemon.
12 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does empanadas tucumanas take?
- About 105 minutes in total: 75 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 white onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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