Fancy Empanadas with Sauce

Argentinean cuisine:

Empanadas date all the way back to 16^th century Spain and Portugal but are now served throughout Central and South America. However, the Argentineans have made an art of the empanada with their superb meats and fine crusts. Here is a taste of the good life in Argentina.

Ingredients (serves 5):

Empanadas

• 1 to 2 cups – water
• 1 ½ pounds – flank steak
• 3 tablespoons – extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves – garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons – tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons – beef stock
• 2 teaspoons – ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon – red pepper (cayenne)
• 2/3 cup – fresh cilantro, chopped
• Kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste
• 1 ½ 17.3 ounce packages – frozen puff pastry, thawed – make sure that you unfold them before they completely thaw because they can stick together if you don’t.
• 3 – egg yolks, beaten

Sauce

• 1 15.5 ounce can – black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 cup – sour cream
• 2 – large plum tomatoes, chopped
• 4 – green onions, chopped
• Kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste

Preparation:

Add the water and steak to a medium skillet over medium high to high heat and cook covered for about 1 hour. Keep adding more water as needed and make sure the meat does not burn. Once the steak has cooked for an hour, remove the lid and cook the rest of the water off.

Final water cooking off of the beef

Place the steak on a cutting board and using two forks shred the meat (see photo below). Set the meat aside.

Shredding the beef

Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat, garlic, and beef stock and cook for about 3 minutes stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomato paste, cumin and red pepper and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Empanadas filling

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the 3 pastry squares into four equal sections – 12 squares (see photo below).

Pastry cut into four even squares

Paint the edges of the cubes with the egg yolks and evenly distribute the meat mixture between the squares (see photo below).

Filling the pastry dough

Fold the edges over to form triangles and seal by pressing a fork along the edges of the triangles. Place the triangles on cooking sheets covered with non stick aluminum foil. Brush the tops of each triangle lightly with egg yolk and then place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until they are brown, flaky, and puffed up (see photo below).

After the empanadas have baked.

While the pastries are cooking, prepare the sauce by adding the beans and sour cream to a food processor and blending until smooth. Place the mixture into a bowl (see photo below) and stir 1 chopped tomato and 2 green onions into the mixture.

Tomatoes and green onion ready to be stirred in the bean and sour cream mixture

Add the other chopped tomato and 2 green onions to the top of the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Empanada sauce

Serve the sauce over or on the side of the empanadas once they have baked.

Enjoy!

J. Botticelli