Empanadas con Jose

We are currently chilling in the beach city of Iquique in Northern Chile, but we can´t share our pictures of this trip yet so instead we will continue with the flashback and leave you with a recipe....

A few weeks ago, we had a chance to make Chilean empanadas with Jose. We shrunk the recipe for 10 empanadas mas o menos in case you want to try it.

The first day we made the pino, the meaty filling, by chopping 5 onions finely and cooking in a pot on high heat with a half kilo of beef. You can use ground beef, but we prefer small cubes for empanadas. Add 1 Tbsp of sugar, 1 Tbsp of salt, black pepper, cumin, 7.5 grams of paprika, 7.5 grams of oregano. Stir and cover, checking occasionally. It should be boiling. When the beef is cooked, turn it off , and let the pino cool overnight. It has to be cool when stuffing the empanadas.

While the beef is cooking, boil 5 eggs, peel, and set aside.

Day 2: Our ingredients all ready. Each empanada needs 1 black olive, pino, half or quarter hard boiled egg, and 2 golden raisins. But first, you´ve got to make the dough!

The dough is simple: put 1 kilo flour in a big bowl, make a hole in the middle and pour salt water (1 Tbsp. salt & half cup of water) into center. Add another cup of hot (but not boiling) water and half a cup melted lard (mmm...). Slowly work flour into middle until dough is moist and sticking together. We didn´t do this but Jose said half a cup of white wine is also optional here.

Knead hard for 5-8 minutes into sort of a long roll, stretching the inside out and then putting it back.

Separate into baseball size balls and knead each individually until soft and suave.

Roll each ball out into circle with roller or empty wine bottle.

Put 1 olive, 2 raisins, quarter boiled egg and 2 spoonfuls of pino.

Fold it closed and if you can be fancy like Jose, make a beautiful twisty edge.

Micah with our almost finished product.... Brush the tops with a bit more melted lard or scrambled egg yolks for a nice golden color. Poke 1 teeny hole in the center of each to let heat escape.

Can you tell which are his and which are ours?!?

We cooked them in Jose´s brick oven. Try 8-15 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until they are golden brown on top.

Buen Provecho!