empanadas de picadillo

Hello Foodie Friends,

Have you tried empanadas? This is one of my favorite treats growing up. I like the flaky and delicate dough, light crunchy and stuffed with cheese or meat.

My favorite is the one with picadillo. This is ground beef, cooked with sofrito, raisins, spices and olives. Some recipes will have a piece of hard broiled eggs. The sofrito is the base for this picadillo, these are finely chopped, onions, garlic and bell peppers, cooked with olive oil and a teaspoon of tomato paste. Back home we used teh achiote (annato seed) to make the flavor and color to the picadillo.

To make this recipe easy to make, I used the empanadas dough from the store. I found that Goya brand has a puff pastry empanada dough that is so flaky and delish. You may find these empanadas dough at any latin market.

Here are the ingredients to make this latin savory treat.

To start this recipe you need to cook the sofrito first.

Then you add the ground beef and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Add the raisins and olives on the last 5 minutes of cooking. Set aside and let this cool for about 10- 15 minutes.

Once the picadillo is at room temperature, lay flat the empanada dough disks and place a spoonful of the picadillo in the center. Then to close, simply add a little water to ends and press, you can use a fork to press and seal, or make little rolls to seal the empanada, just like picture below.

Now it is time brush them with egg wash and bake them . Can't wait for them to come out of the oven!

Baked at 400 degrees for 15-20. You want to see the look lightly golden.

They are perfectly baked. Nice golden and flaky crust and a delicious meaty picadillo!

EMPANADAS DE PICADILLO

RECIPE

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1	lb. of organic ground beef 80/20
1	package of Goya empanada dough
1/2	yellow onion (finely diced)
2	garlic cloves
1/4	cup finely chopped bell peppers
1	Tbsp of tomato paste
2	Tbsp of raisins
5	green or black olives (chopped)
2	Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1	egg for egg wash
1/2	tsp of cumin
1/2	tsp of salt
1/2	tsp of pepper

In a hot pan add the olive oil and cook the onions until they are translucent about 4 mionutes, then add bell peppers, garlic and tomato paste and cook for another 3 minutes. Then add the ground beef, the seasonings and combine. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Then add the raisins and chopped olives and mix. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees, while you assemble the empanadas.

Now that the picadillo is at room temperature, in a sheet pan lined with baking paper, lay flat the empanada dough disk. Add a spoonful of the picadillo in the center. Then close with either fingers or a fork. I like to make little folds and seal all around.

Then use the egg wash (micture of 1 egg beaten with a splash of milk) Ligtly coat the top of the empanda and bake for about 15-18 minutes make sure you see the light golden crust.

We usually serve it with homemade chimichurri and enjoy it with a cup of coffee in the mid afternoons.