Empaladas

[theloosemoose]

Has anyone made their own with a tried and tested recipe, and do you use cinnamon?

[NoMercy]

Do you mean empanadas - the spanish pastries?

And which stuffing do you prefer?

[theloosemoose]

Thats it empinadas, Ive only tated the shop brought asda ones which were chilli beef and they were to die for, but there was a taste which i could'nt quite put my finger on which I later found out was cinammon in the pastry.

[Androcles]

Here's my recipe for Pumpkin Empanadas:

* 15 - 16 ozs pumpkin puree
* 3 -4 ozs Demerara sugar
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* All-purpose flour, for dusting
* 2lb sweet pastry (or use pre-prepared sweet pastry (2 packs))
* 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar
* 2 tablespoons milk, cream, or evaporated milk

Take about 11/2lbs squash, de-seed it and cut into chunks. Place in a saucepan and sprinkle with sugar, cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and remove the pulp from the skin and mash well or blend in a food processor.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Meanwhile, put the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, 2 scant teaspoons of the cinnamon, the salt, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. With a wire whisk or a spoon, stir until thoroughly combined.

With a little all-purpose flour, lightly dust a flat, smooth work surface. Roll out the pastry until fairly thin. With a 4-inch-diameter cutter or an inverted glass bowl with a 4-inch-diameter rim, cut out circles. Gather together all the pastry scraps. With your hands, knead them briefly, and then form into a ball. Lightly dust a rolling pin and the ball with some flour. Roll out the ball into a circle the same diameter as the other cut-out circles of dough. Cut it to get 7 more circles. Finally, take the last of the scraps and gently pat them out to get one last circle, for a total of 2 dozen circles.

Continued

[Androcles]

Continued:
Take one circle of dough and put 1 level tablespoon of the filling on its centre. . Put the milk, cream, or evaporated milk in a small bowl. Damp the edges with milk and then fold the circle of dough in half over the filling to enclose it, aligning the edges of the half-circle of dough. With the tines of a fork, press down all along the joined edges to seal the empanada. Place the empanada on a greased baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling. You'll need 2 standard baking sheets to hold all 24 empanadas.

Dip your fingertip in the milk and use your fingertip to moisten lightly the top surface of each empanada. Then, with a teaspoon, scoop up a little demerara sugar and, holding the spoon over each empanada, lightly tap the spoon to dust the empanadas with sugar. Prick the tops lightly with a fork or sharp knife.

Put the baking shees in the preheated oven. Bake the empanadas until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, checking to make sure they don't burn. Halfway through the baking time, rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees for more even baking.

[KARL]

I have to admit I have only had empanadas (pan is bread in Spanish, empanada means cased in pastry) in South America where they were superb - but generally with no more than your ordinary condiments and very little of them at that. No doubt in the UK they are produced to UK concepts, just like supposed Chinese and Indian food. You can of course make whatever you enjoy and/or takes your fancy.

[NoMercy]

Well I live in Spain and typically there are two favourites here - Tomato or Spinach.

I've just checked a Spanish website and it seems to suggest that you use flour, water, olive oil and white wine for the pastry, and just a pinch of salt.

That's for 1kg of flour mixed with "un vaso" (a glass) of water, and half a glass each of olive oil and white wine.

Tbh... I've never made them so cannot guarantee that recipe.

[Androcles]

The recipe I gave is a mexican one, where they eat sweet empanadas, with Hot chocolate to drink!