Fry
Empanadas De Atun
- Serves 8
Author Notes
As my mother is a Porteño, I grew up eating empanadas - savory turnovers usually filled with spiced beef, olives, raisins and hardboiled egg. In researching empanadas for my blog, I came across another traditional version using tunafish as the filling base. These work well hot or cold, can be made appetizer-size or into one giant pie you can cut in slices, and they're perfect for entertaining. —Michele Hays
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Masa de Cerveza (Beer pastry)
-
1 cup
beer
-
1 cup
neutral-tasting oil
-
41/2 to 5 cups
All-purpose flour
-
1 teaspoon
salt
- Relleno de atún (Tuna Filling)
-
12 ounces
Tuna, drained (I use olive-oil packed)
-
2
hardboiled eggs
-
4
bacon slices
-
2 teaspoons
dried minced onion
-
2 tablespoons
white wine
-
2 teaspoons
minced garlic
-
1
6 oz jar of roasted red bell peppers, drained, rinsed and minced
-
1/2 cup
green olives with pimiento, drained and sliced
-
tomato sauce to moisten
-
egg wash or oil
Directions
- Masa de Cerveza (Beer pastry)
- Mix beer, oil, salt and add flour until a soft, but not sticky, dough forms. Let stand until ready to assemble.
- Relleno de atún (Tuna Filling)
- Rehydrate the onion in the wine overnight in the fridge, or heat them in the microwave for 30 seconds, then allow to stand for 10 minutes.
- Fry the bacon until rendered, drain fat to taste - add chopped onion and garlic and fry until fragrant. Remove from heat, combine with tuna and a small amount of tomato sauce in a bowl, being careful to leave the tuna in large flakes.
- Gallega-style (two large pies) Divide dough into four parts. Form each part into a ball, and roll out two balls into a disk about 1/4 inch thick, slightly larger than a dinner plate. Place one round on cookie sheet, and top with half of your filling: a layer each of the tuna mixture eggs, olives, and peppers, leaving a 1" edge.
- Top with second pastry round and crimp the edge all the way around by pinching it between your finger and thumb, rolling the pinched part inwards and pinching again. Repeat the whole process with the remaining dough and filling to make a second Empanada Gallega.
- Paint with a little oil or egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees for 1/2 hour until pastry is golden brown and delicious. Cut into wedges and serve warm.
- To make individual empanadas, divide your dough balls in half again (one recipe makes 8 empanadas,) roll them into dessert-plate sized disks (or use a tortilla press) and fill the center with tuna mixture. (You can halve the recipe a second time to make appetizer-size empanadas.)
- Pull both sides to meet at the top, and crimp as above. Place on their sides on a cookie sheet (so they look like half-moons) and bake as directed above.
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