If you are not familiar with empanadas, they are basically turnovers, usually stuffed with a savory minced meat filling, and popular throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. In this recipe, the pastry dough is made with cream cheese, butter, and flour, resulting in a particularly scrumptious pastry. The filling is a delicious curried ground pork picadillo. Feel free to improvise with the filling ingredients; you can use practically any stew with finely minced meat, simmered down to the point of barely any liquid, with a little cornstarch added to help soak up extra liquid. Do you have a favorite empanada recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments. The pastries are best made in batches, keeping the dough and dough rounds chilled in between batches to make them easier to form.
16 ounces cream cheese (do not use light), room temperature
8 ounces (2 sticks, 1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten, for pastry egg wash
Filling ingredients:
Salt
1/2 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
Form two balls (it will be easier to work with 2 separate pieces of dough), then flatten each into a disk. Dust with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. Once the pork is lightly browned on one side, use a spatula to flip the pieces to the other side so the other side can cook. Once the pork is lightly browned on both sides, reduce the heat on the pan to medium, and remove the pork to a bowl. Add the minced garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add the finely chopped mushrooms, cooking for a few minutes more. Add the curry powder, ground coriander, and cardamom to the pan. Mix the spices in with the onion mix. Add the ground pork back to the pan, mixing in the seasoned onion mix. Add the raisins. Add the sherry, soy sauce, sugar, and corn starch, mixing well. Break bigger pieces of ground pork with the edge of a metal spatula. Remove from heat, and chill until time to stuff the pastries. Use a wide-mouthed jar or biscuit cutter (about 3 inches wide) to cut out rounds. Place them on a baking sheet. During this and the next step, if the dough becomes too soft and therefore difficult to work with, put whatever you are working on in the refrigerator to chill for 5 or 10 minutes. Place a teaspoon of meat inside each round. Fold the round over to and press the edges to seal shut. Use the tines of a fork to flute the edges. Place standing upright on a baking sheet, spaced an inch apart. (You can also lie them down, but with them upright, you’ll fit more on a pan.) Use a pastry brush to brush the sides (not the bottom) of the empanadas with more egg wash. Links: Wikipedia on empanadas Argentina empanadas with video for special Mendoza-style empanada with “repulgue” sealed and patterned edges. Sweet rhubarb and strawberry empanadas from Laylita’s Recipes
