spicy empanadas.

You might remember our sweet little peach empanadas from back in August. We've been talking about making savory ones for a long time and when Summer got the itch (wait, SUMMER wanted something that wasn't sweet?), I was happy to comply.



Since I eat meat and Summer doesn't, we did 2 different fillings. We used this awesome pastry crust recipe that Summer jacked off a crisco container. Laugh all you want, but those package recipes have test kitchens full of professional chefs and the recipes are always bomb. Tollhouse cookies anyone? I rest my case.



Adapted Crisco recipe for the crusts:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar (we lowered the amount since we weren't looking for sweet. Original recipe calls for 2 tbsp.)
1 tsp. salt (we decided it could have used more salt, to go with what we stuffed them with.)
3/4 cup shortening (we prefer organic)
5 tbsp. cold water

Combine flour, sugar, & salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening using 2 knives (or a pastry cutter) until all flour is blended to form pea-sized chunks. (I imagine you could use a food processor for this purpose, also.) Sprinkle 5 tbsp. water, one tbsp. at a time. Toss lightly with a fork until dough forms. Flour rolling surface and pin lightly. Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 1/16th" thickness. Use lid from 3 lb crisco can (or a tub of butter, or a quart tub of yogurt, whatever) as a pattern. Cut 6 circles from each half. Spoon in a small amount of filling (Don't over-stuff! You'll have to live and learn on this, unfortunately.) and moisten edges with water. Fold in half and press with fork to seal. Poke air holes so they don't explode. Bonus points for a cute pattern. Bake 20 minutes at 425ºf and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes before eating. (It's hard to wait. I know.)



The fillings were simple. I threw together a large bowl of fresh salsa (tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, pinch of salt) and for the vegetarian filling, we just heated up some black beans, seasoned them with a little bit of cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder, and added a handful of frozen corn. For the meat ones, I cooked up some chorizo sausage that I bought in bulk at the grocery store. It was delicious and spicy! To fill the empanadas, we layered grated manchego (one of my favorite cheeses), small scoops of the filling, and a dollop of the salsa. Summer snuck tapatio into her vegetarian ones for a little extra kick.



These were tasty but the only amendment I'd make to the recipe would be to brush the tops with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. The flaky pastry crust was delicious, but a little bland in comparison to the spicy chorizo and melted cheese. Needs more salt!

The best part of making these was loading them up into a little basket and walking them over to my husband's shop, a few blocks away from Summer's house. We cruise over there for coffee fairly often and I get to say hello to him a lot, which is a nice treat. We sat on the sidewalk and had a miniature picnic, gobbling down our lunch and watching our boys chase each other. It was fun to bring him something for lunch, I'm sure he appreciated the snack.