Hey !
As mentioned in my Birthday Post, the Sunday after my birthday we had a food party with some friends ! It was kind of latino centered, since we were many to come from South America (Mainly Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico…). But there were also Portuguese, French, Italian, and Lebanese people.
Since I was the only person coming from Colombia, I decided to make some Empanadas ! It’s kind of a mix between dumplings and turnovers. There are many many recipes for these, and the most popular is a fried version with corn flour.
Personally I prefer the oven cooked version, since it’s easier and healthier, this is the recipe my mom taught me not the traditional one, and it’s the one i’m going to show you !
• The Ingredients :
For ~20 empanadas :
- Puff Pastry (homemade or not, enough for 2 pizzas)
- Ground Meat, ~300 grams (1 cup and 1/4), but I always make too much so maybe a little less (I use beef)
- 5 Tomatoes
- 3 Eggs
- 3 Potatoes (medium size)
- A bunch or Fresh Coriander
- Cooked Green Peas, 75 g (1/2 cup), or more if you want
- Chives to taste
- Garlic to taste
- 1 tablespoon of Ground Cumin
- Chili flakes to taste
- 2 Beef Stock Cubes
- A big pinch of Pepper and Salt
- 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Yes, that’s a LOT of ingredients. But this is why Colombian food is so tasty !
• The Steps :
1. Mince the tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, and half of the chives and cilantro (we’ll add the rest later).
2. Heat a big pan with olive oil, and put the meat into the pan.
3. When the meat is a bit brown, add the minced tomatoes, potatoes, chives and cilantro, and also the ground cumin, chili flakes, beef stock cubes, pepper and salt, and olive oil. Mix it all up in the pan.
4. Add enough water to cover up everything, and bring it to a boil until the water is evaporated.
5. In the meantime, take another pan to hard boil the eggs (10 min), and leave them to the side to cool down. If you need to cook your green beans, do it now too (I use frozen ones so I just add them at the end).
6. When the water is evaporated, take the heat down to keep the mixture warm. Remove the eggshells from the cooled eggs, and mince them.
7. Add the minced eggs, the green peas, the rest of the minced chives and cilantro to the main pan and mix it all up.
8. Let the mix cool down for at least 30 min in a huge salad bowl, sometimes I do put it in the fridge but it is no recommended at all since it can damage your fridge (laziness will kill me one day).
9. While the stuffing cools down, take your puff pastry and spread it, the thickness should be the same as a pie.
10. Cut circles out of the spread pastry, add some flour between each to pile them up without sticking.
11. Take your stuffing bowl out, and with a spoon, fill and shape the empanadas. They should look like a dumpling, with pinched sides.
To make it extra easy I use some Dumpling Presses, such as those :
• White : HIC • • Colored : Zoie+Chloe • • Steel : Weshine •
They are amazing ! I use a small size to make the empanadas.
12. Place them on an oven shelf, with some cooking paper underneath. Spread some egg wash on the empanadas. I added a pinch of paprika on top for taste.
· • Bake at 200°C / 392°F until they look golden • ·
And it’s done ! ✨
My friends and their friends loved them, I was really happy to share this !
Here are some pictures of the place where we spent the day, it was at a really beautiful yellow house :
Eat ALL the foods ! (you can see there is not much left of my empanadas )
We played some Cuban dominos, very interesting !
The Ecuadorean flag : very similar to the Colombian one. Except it’s not the same.
A small Chiva, a typical kind of colorful bus you can find in South America.
Sorry for the long post !
Did you still enjoy reading it ?
I hope I was clear enough with the instructions, don’t hesitate to ask me anything in the comments if needed.
And trust me, these are DELICIOUS ✨
Minnie Musings says
Thanks for the recipe! Unfortunately I can’t get the first ingredient – puff pastry – in China, but it sounds like a yummy thing to try next time I’m stateside! It’s special to have recipes handed down through the family like that. 🙂
Oriana says
Too bad ! But I guess you could try with dumpling pastry ? Like the one that is used for chinese raviolis ? It really is special, like a family heritage !
Minnie Musings says
Thanks for the tip, though I’m not sure if Chinese raviolis are actually a thing here… we have dumpling wrappers…?
Oriana says
Like rice wrappers you put on water to wrap around spring rolls or so ? Or the wheat version ? Honestly both should work, but maybe you’ll have to use them as they were meant to, making a dumpling/spring roll with empanada filing ! But if it’s too complicated just drop the pastry, eat the meat with rice it’s going to be as delicious ! ?
Minnie Musings says
You’re a very flexible cook. I like that. 😀
Oriana says
Thank you, that’s because I’m not a real cook haha ! ?
Minnie Musings says
Define a “real cook”.
Oriana says
I would say someone who knows technique and maybe does it as their job. I think the reason why I’m a bit adventurous in the kitchen is because I lack those techniques, so I compensate with problem solving improvisation ! ?
Minnie Musings says
Nothing wrong with that! Hey, a couple weeks ago I made a recipe I had almost none of the components for, so I made three other recipes to compensate.
Oriana says
Of course ! I didn’t mean to say that in a pejorative way (sorry English is not my first language), compensating with creativity is awesome ! ?
Minnie Musings says
You didn’t say anything wrong. 🙂
kittyp0p says
I’ve never had empanadas! They sound delicious though (: do you think I could make them gluten-free or can you not make a puff pastry without wheat flour?
Oriana says
You definitely can ! I dont have a recipe, but for her empanadas my mother uses a gluten free puff pastry that she buys at the organic store ! ?
kittyp0p says
Oh nice (: I’ll definitely keep an eye out for that next time I’m grocery shopping! Thanks
crystalsandcurls says
Oh wow – not only does this food look absolutely delicious, but it looks like an amazing day! Some of the best days are spent enjoying food and quality time with people ? Lovely post xx
Oriana says
Thank you Crystal ? Yes, it also was a fun and awesome day well spent with the most important things in life : food and friends ! ?
Stacia May says
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try this recipe, also great tip with those dumpling makers!
Oriana says
Thanks Stacia ! ? I hope your empanadas turn out awesome, don’t hesitate to ask anything if needed ! ?