Empanadas with chimichurri
Dough wrapped packets of delicious goodness, empanadas are a must try. And when you do try them, don't forget to make chimichurri - a thick parsley based, oil and vinegar sauce.
Servings 12 empanadas
Ingredients
Dough
- 60 mL vegan margarine ¼ cup
- 250 mL water
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 7.5 dl all-purpose flour 3 cups
Base filling
- 1 block tofu, firm or extra firm
- 1 onion, chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Filling - version 1
- 1-2 potatoes, boiled
- 1 dl green peas
Filling - version 2
- 2-3 tbsp raisins
- 10 olives
Chimichurri
- 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2.5 dl olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dry oregano
- ½-1 red chili, finely chopped
- salt to taste
Instructions
Dough
- Melt the margarine and mix with water, salt and vinegar in a large bowl.
- Mix in the flour, a bit at a time.
- When all the flour is added, kneed the dough for a few minutes (by hand).
- Oil another bowl and roll the dough into a ball. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with clingfilm or a plastic bag.
- Let rest in the fridge 1-2 h or longer. Can be made the day before.
Chimichurri
- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Optional: use a muddler to mash the parsley a bit after mixing.
- Let sit for 1+ h. Can be made the day before and stored in fridge.
- Taste and adjust acidity and salt level.
Base filling
- Sweat the onion in the oil in a large pan.
- Tear the tofu into chunks of varying size, from 0.5 - 1.5 cm.
- When the onion is transparent, add the garlic and bell pepper and sweat a little more.
- Add the tofu followed by the spices.
- Keep stirring and frying until the tofu has lost all liquid and is starting to brown, ~10 minutes. Toward the end, you can turn up the heat and stop stirring a bit to help the browning.
- You can add some water to help distribute the spices more easily.
- Set aside and let cool.
Filling - version 1
- Split the base filling into two bowls.
- Chop the boiled potatoes into small pieces (0.5 cm) and add to one bowl with base filling.
- Add the peas to the same bowl. Mix
Filling - version 2
- In the second bowl containing base filling, add raisins.
- Pit the olives and tear into large chunks. Set aside.
Assembly - dough
- When the dough has been chilled, take it out of the fridge.
- Working on a lighlty floured surface, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Keep the pieces covered by cling film.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the first piece of dough into a ~1 mm thick sheet.
- Using a bowl, plate, or similar as a guide, cut out circles with ~10 cm diameter. Collect all the scrap pieces and roll out again at the end. Continue until there is no dough left.
- Alternately, roll small pieces of dough into balls and roll those out using a rolling pin or tortilal press.
Assembly - filling
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (~350°F).
- Add 1-3 tbsp of filling in the middle of each dough circle, slightly off-center.For filling - version 2, add a few pieces of olive as well.
- Wet the edge of the dough with a bit of water, using a pastry brush or your finger.
- Fold the dough over the filling and gently press down.
- Create a seal using a fork or by folding the dough into mutiple small folds (see photos.)
- Chill the empanadas for 5-10 min in the fridge.
- Crimp the edges of the dough to improve the seal. Either by folding the dough over itself along the edge or by using a fork.
- Using a fork, create small holes along the back of each empanada to allow steam to escape. Optional: use different patterns to keep track of filling.
- Bake on parchment paper for 20-30 min at 180°C (~350°F) until starting to brown underneath. Switch on broil for another 3 minutes to brown the top.
- Enjoy warm with chimichurri.