Crispy Baked Beef And Sweet Potato Empanadas Recipe

Every culture seems to have their own version of small hand-held savory pies. They're endlessly adaptable, delicious, and convenient to take to work or school — a full meal in a small package. Often these take the form of fried stuffed dough: In Italy, there are calzones, in Japan, gyoza, in Poland, pierogies. A love of crispy, fried dough with warm, savory insides is universal, each taking on the unique characteristics of their nation's cuisine. Empanadas are the Spanish version, made widely across Argentina, Spain, and Portugal with a variety of both sweet and savory fillings.

Like any form of hand pie, empanadas can be both challenging and time-consuming to make, but recipe developer Michelle McGlinn shares a recipe that makes the process feel easy. A crispy, airy dough made quickly in the food processor envelops a savory beef and sweet potato filling and crisps to golden brown in the oven. These empanadas are great for serving a crowd or for replacing your usual taco night — and though they may take a few extra minutes, the results are well worth the wait.

For the empanada shells, you'll need flour, salt, 2 sticks of butter, warm water, and eggs. For the filling, you'll need one sweet potato, lean ground beef, a yellow onion, a few cloves of garlic, and spices like cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Arrange the sweet potato pieces on a parchment-lined sheet tray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Roast for 10 minutes, or until just tender.

In the meantime, heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Finely crumble the ground beef in a skillet and stir and fry until browned.

Once browned, add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the roasted sweet potato to the mixture.

Add the cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and butter pieces in a food processor.

Pulse until the butter is chopped into pea-sized pieces.

Add the water and 1 egg and blend until a sticky dough forms.

Remove the dough from the processor and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead until dough forms a smooth ball.

Roll the dough into a ball and slice in half. Roll each half into a 1-inch rope.

Slice each rope into 12 1-inch pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball.

Roll each ball into a circle ⅛-inch thick.

Fill with 2 tablespoons of empanada filling. Fold in half, then fold or crimp closed.

Whisk the egg and 1 teaspoon of water together in a small bowl. Brush each empanada with the egg wash.

Reduce the oven heat to 375 F.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool briefly, then serve.

Just like folding dumplings is something of an art form, empanadas can also be sealed in creative ways. The most common and easiest way to seal an empanada is with a fork. Fold the empanada closed, then press the prongs of the fork along the edge, creating small indents that close the edges of the empanada. If you are making a large batch of empanadas or are making them for the first time, try this method first, which is fast and foolproof.

If you want to give yourself a challenge, try a repulgue edge, or a rope edge. To do this, fold the empanada in half and press the edges closed, leaving a ¼-inch border around the filling. Twist the bottom corner inwards towards the filling, then hold with your left fingers and repeat the folding motion using your right hand with the next section of dough. Grab the bottom corner of the next section of dough and fold over again, bending the dough slightly to curve inwards. Repeat this folding until you've reached the end, then press the final fold down to seal.

The perfect empanadas are more than just the ingredients: The empanada has to come together the right way, too. Start with the dough. Once you've created a sticky but smooth dough ball, slice the ball in half to create 2 even sections. Roll these sections into 2 evenly-sized ropes, then cut 12 1-inch sections of each dough. To make perfect empanadas, the dough should be about the same size throughout the whole batch, and dividing the dough this way guarantees even dough balls.

With 24 evenly-sized dough balls, you can begin to roll the dough. To make this easier, create a DIY tortilla press. Place a piece of parchment over one dough ball. Using a heavy-bottomed skillet or pot, press firmly down onto the ball to flatten. From there, use a rolling pin to gently roll the ball out in all directions until the dough is as thin as a nickel. To fill, use 2 spoons to gently add filling to one side of the circle, then fold in half and continue with crimping or folding. While filling each empanada, store the remaining dough balls under a towel to keep the dough from drying out.