Empanadas have been on my recipe radar for awhile now, ever since our first visit to Empanada Mama in NYC. As much as I like them, the fried versions are definitely not the healthiest and I always feel quite guilty when eating them. I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen for a baked version that she swears by so of course, I had to try it. And I'm glad I did - it was quite yummy!
Chicken Empanadas with Chorizo
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen/Gourmet
Ingredients:
Dough
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large eggs
2/3 cup ice water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
Filling
3 whole chicken legs, including thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California
1/3 cup finely diced Spanish chorizo
1/2 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika (not hot)
1/4 cup chopped pitted green olives
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
Egg Wash
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Directions:
Dough: Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.)
Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. (Deb note: If you use a large-ish bowl, you can do this step in-bowl.) Form dough into two flat rectangles and chill them, each wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour. Dough can be chilled up to 6 hours total.
Filling: Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning over once, about 6 minutes total, and transfer to a plate. Sauté onions, garlic, and bay leaves in fat remaining in skillet, stirring frequently, until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chorizo and paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add olives, wine, and broth and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Return chicken to skillet along with any juices accumulated on plate, then reduce heat to moderately low and simmer chicken, covered, turning over once, until tender, 25 to 30 minutes total.
Transfer chicken to a clean plate. (Sauce in skillet should be the consistency of heavy cream; if it’s not, briskly simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.) When chicken is cool enough to handle, discard skin and bones and coarsely chop meat. Stir chicken into sauce and discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, then cool filling, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
Form Empanadas: Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Roll dough out to desired thickness and cut with a round cookie cutter.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling onto center and fold dough in half, enclosing filling.
Press edges together to seal, then crimp decoratively with your fingers or tines of a fork.
Transfer empanada to a baking sheet. Lightly brush empanadas with some of egg wash.
Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes.
I was very impressed by the recipe -the empanadas were delicious! It was reminiscent of a vietnamese Bánh Pâté Chaud that you can find at the local Lee's, but better. The filling was very flavorful but lacked both texture and acidity. I ended up adding in 3 chopped hard-boiled eggs for texture and about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of sugar to balance out the flavors. Next time, I will definitely add in some raisins for added sweetness.
The dough itself was nice and flakey - wouldn't change anything about it except Smitten Kitchen mentions substituting some of the white flour for whole wheat flour. Will need to try that next time. Not sure if it will interfere with the flakiness though as her pictures don't seem to have the same texture as mine.
Some first-time empanada maker mistakes: overstuffing and underwrapping - both of which resulted in empanadas that exploded with juices leaking out and burned bottoms. Solution: to fill less and wrap the edges upward into a solid seal before using the tines of the fork to make the designs.
This recipe is a winner! Make it now!!!
