Empanadas with Quince Paste and Cheese

Combining cheese with a sweet component such as jam, seems to be a Latin American thing. Needless to say that they also serve their turnovers called empanadas with cheese and quince paste. Originally these are actually served with guava, but that is very hard to come by in Germany. Of course I have a recipe for homemade quince paste on my blog. So when I first tried out this recipe, I made a small amount as I was not sure if we would like it. However, it literally took second and people asked for seconds, so I knew this recipe would make it on the blog. So let me introduce you to empanadas with cheese and quince paste filling!

If not mistaken, these empanadas are pretty popular in Central America, I found recipes from Puerto Rico, Panama and Cuba. Apparently guava is a super common filling and many serve it with queese. When I tried this variantion for the first time, I knew why. Just the first bite transported me to another world, mild mozzarella melted in my mount and was accompanied by tangy quince paste, divine. Probably you need to have grown up with this combo to actually enjoy it, I don’t know. I do know that there are many recipes out there with this combination. In Colombia ripe platains are grilled with cheese and quince paste. In Uruguay cheese with quince paste is a dessert by itself, it is called Martín Fierro. If you have never tried this combination, I encourage you to do so with these empanadas.

But let’s get back to the empanadas aka turnovers. I dare say that empanadas are THE snack you will find in Latin America. There are tons of savory fillings, beef, fish, veggies, the list is endless. But you will also find sweet ones. One other recipe on the blog is chocolate empanadas with caramel filling (dule de leche). These ones filled with cheese and quince paste seem to be extra popular in Central America. You can easily double the recipe and make more of this buttery deliciousness.

Print Recipe

Empanadas with Quince Paste and Queese

Serves: About 7-8 empanadas, depending on size

Prep Time: 1hr – Cooking Time: 25min – Total Time: 1hr 30min

Empanadas with quince paste and queese are prepared with a pie dough and baked.

Ingredients

• Empanadas Dough
• 250 grams of all-purpose flour
• 30 grams of regular sugar
• 160 grams of cold butter
• 2-5 tablespoons of cold water
• 
  
• Filling
• 100 grams of grated mozzarella
• 100 grams of quince paste, einther homemade oder bought
• 1 egg for egg wash

Instructions

1

For the dough mix the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Place the butter in cubes on top and work quickly into crumbs. Then add the water by the spoonful until you can work into a ball. Depending on the flour and the environment, you may need more or less water, so only add a bit at a time. You are basically creating a pie dough. Chill covered for at least half an hour or overnight. Since this dough does not contain egg, you can chill in the fridge for about a week.

2

Once ready, roll out thinnly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out circles about 13cm in size, I usually take a breakfast bowl for this. You should get about 7-8 circles. Cut the quince paste into cubes, I put 4 cubes into the center of each circle. Put about 1-2 teaspoons of grated cheese on top. Water your index finger and brush the edges all around with the water. Fold the circle in half so that you get a half moon, seal with your hands. Now you can either prick with a fork or if you wish to create the braided edges, you want to take a small part of dough with your finger and thumb to stretch a bit outside and then fold it back to the center. How I do that you can see in this video.

3

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Finish all your circles the same way and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and bake for about 25min or until golden. Serve warm.

P.S: If you are interested in more empanada recipes, check out this blog article.