Empanadas de Pino (Chilean Empanadas)
Author: 
Cuisine: Chilean
 
Empanadas de Pino are classic Chilean empanadas. They are baked with traditional ingredients consisting of meat, onions, spices, raisins, eggs and olives.
Ingredients
  • **For the Dough** (From America's Test Kitchen)
  • 3¾ cups (18¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1 /2 teaspoons salt
  • 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubs and chilled
  • 1¼ cups ice water
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • **For the Filling** (Adapted from Secretos de la Cocina Chilena)
  • 1½ pounds ground chuck (Traditionally, finely diced chuck steak or chuck roast is used)
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cumin (or to taste, add more for more flavor)
  • 3 teaspoons paprika (or to taste, add more for more flavor)
  • 3 heaping teaspoons sambal oelek (or any other hot sauce)
  • A few tablespoons oil for cooking (in place of lard)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • **Other Ingredients** (the original recipe called for 1 olive, 2 raisins and 1 wedge of egg for each empanada)
  • Chopped Olives (black olives are traditional but I would use marinated olives next time)
  • Raisins, soaked
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, cut in pieces
Instructions
  1. To prepare the dough: Using a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt about 6-8 times until combined. Add the butter pieces and pulse again (about 16 times) until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal and butter pieces are about the size of peas.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl then add ¼ cup of water at a time, stirring it in using a rubber spatula. Press the mixture against the sides of the bowl to form a dough until no small bits of flour remain (you may not need all of the water).
  3. Turn the dough out on a clean work surface and divide in two. Form each dough into a ball then flatten to a 6-inch disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 2 days) before using.
  4. To Prepare the Filling: Saute the beef and onions in all until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the spices, hot sauce, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Set aside. This can be made a day or two ahead of time.
  5. To Assemble the Empanadas: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Roll out one of the refrigerated disks of dough on a lightly floured surface into an 18-inch circle about ⅛ of an inch thick. Cut out 4 to 6-inch disks (I used a bowl) and transfer them to the parchment-lined baking sheet. I got about 7 (6-inch) rounds from each disk--make sure you cut the rounds carefully since you won't be able to re-roll the scraps to make more rounds. Repeat with the remaining disks of dough.
  6. To fill the Empanadas, add around 1 heaping tbsp of the meat mixture, raisins, olives and egg pieces then fold one edge of the dough over to create a half moon. (Note: to make it easier, stir in the olives and raisins into the meat mixture.) Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. The empanadas can be refrigerated up to 3 days (or frozen up to 1 month) before baking.
  7. To Bake the Empanadas, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the tops of the empanadas with the egg and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. If frozen, it may take about 25 minutes. (If using the convection feature of your oven like I did, I baked mine for 21 min at 400 degrees F.
Notes
Be advised even after reducing my source for the filling recipe by half, it was still much more than I needed for the one batch of the ATK dough recipe. You may reduce this filling recipe further by half or double the ATK dough recipe. Alternatively, you can use the leftover meat mixture in a frittata. ATK dough recipe posted here will make 14-16 empanadas.
Recipe by Lemons + Anchovies at https://lemonsandanchovies.com/2012/07/taste-of-south-america-part-4-empanadas-de-pino-chilean-empanadas/