Yes, I am introducing empanadas again, these are dumplings or turnovers popular in all of Latin America. Today I am going to introduce you to the ones famous in Mendoza, Argentina. These are traditionally filled with beef, olives, and hard-boiled eggs. They are similar to the empanadas from Uruguay. Uruguayan empanadas are also filled with beef and also contain hard-boiled eggs. However, there are slight differences such as no olives and the meat being prepared with tomatoes. You will also realize that the dough has one different ingredient, instead of water this dough is prepared with warm milk, making it extra easy to work with. If you want to check out further empanada recipes, check out this blog post.
If it were for me, I could eat empanadas every single day. Yes, they are some labor of work. Yes, we are going to make the dough as well as the filling from scratch. Once that is done, we need to fill and form the empanadas (which takes the longest) and then you need to bake these. The good thing though is that compared to pelmeni from Russia they are considerably larger in size. I would say they are at least double in size. This is definitely a dish that requires time and does not come together in half an hour. But on the bright side, empanadas can easily be frozen. In that instance I recommend baking them at a slightly lower temperature first (180 degrees) for 20 minutes and only then turn up the heat. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Empanadas from Mendoza in Argentina are filled with beef, boiled eggs and olives. The dough is prepared with warm milk and easy to deal with. For the dough heat milk until it almost boils. Meanwhile weigh flour, butter, egg, and salt into a large kneading bowl. Add the hot milk and knead for about 5 minutes. If doing by hand, you should get a soft dough, if doing with a machine, knead on low. You can prepare the dough the night before, be sure to cover. You can leave it a room temperature. The dough should rest at least for half an hour or longer for the gluten to develop. For the filling peel and slice the onions and fry in a large frying pan for a few minutes until translucent. Then take out onions and put minced meat inside without cleaning. Increase temperature and brown the meat while stirring. Once fully brown, add back the onions and herbs. Lower heat and let simmer for a minute. Season more to taste. Boil the eggs and cube, also slice the olives. Mix eggs and olives into the meat mixture. You can also prepare the filling like this the night before, be sure to cover and chill. Divide the dough into two equal parts, roll out first part thinnly (2mm) on a lightly floured surface. Using a small breakfast bowl or similar, cut out circles about 13cm in diameter. Spoon some filling in the middle, wet the edge with water and the fold over so that you get the shape of a half moon. Seal the edges either with a fork or using your thumb and index finger to pull out a small part of dough and then folding it inwards again. For a visual, check out this reel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Freshly prepared empanadas can easily be frozen. First freeze for 1-2 hours loosely on parchment paper and then transfer to a tightly sealed bag. Bake frozen, you will need to add about 5-10 extra minutes and I recommend starting at a slightly lower temperature (180) for the first 20 minutes and to then increase temperature. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and place prepared empanadas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with some chimichurri sauce.Empanadas from Mendoza in Argentina
Ingredients
Instructions
P.S: Yes, of course I have more empanada recipes from Argentina on this blog, another good one is empanadas with beef and potatoe filling as pictured below. The dough is prepared with water and contains some herbs.
2 Comments
Nici
Sunday August 4th, 2024 at 01:50 PMmega leckere Empanadas 😋
Vielen Dank
Jenny
Sunday August 4th, 2024 at 01:56 PMDas freut mich sehr. Wenn du magst, kannst du mir per Social Media oder E-Mail Fotos schicken, ich bin immer mega neugierig 🙂