Chanukah empanadas recipe
- Cuisine: Argentinian
- Makes 8
Featured as part of our Cooks and their Books series, this recipe comes from Cooking from Memory, a book which celebrates the Jewish Diaspora in Australia.
More Cooking from Memory recipes
Ingredients
Filling
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 large red capsicum, finely chopped
1⁄2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin
1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
250 g (9 oz) minced beef (not diet mince)
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup water
1 heaped tablespoon plain fl our
2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
Dough
125 g (4 oz) plain flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
30 g (1 oz) butter
2–3 tablespoons water
sunfl ower oil for frying
Preparation
Chanukah, the festival of lights, is when Jews commemorate the little jug of oil that miraculously burned for eight days. These fried pastries are traditionally eaten during the festival.
To make the filling, heat the oil in a deep frying pan on a high heat. Add the onion, lower the heat to medium and stir regularly. When the onion is transparent, add the capsicum. Stir continuously.
When the capsicum softens, add the paprika, cumin and pepper, and continue stirring. Add the beef and brown. Add the salt and water and cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat. Stir in the flour. Add the eggs. Set aside to cool.
To make the dough, sift the fl our and the salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and knead thoroughly on a fl oured board to form a very smooth dough. Cover it with a tea towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. (If the weather is hot, chill the pastry, otherwise it will be diffi cult to roll.) Divide the dough into about eight pieces. Dust each piece with fl our and, with a rolling pin, roll into a circle about 1 cm (½ in) thick. Put 1 teaspoon of the fi lling in the middle, fold the dough over and close fi rmly at the edges. With a fork go over the edges to make a pattern, making sure they are securely closed.
Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan and deep-fry the empanadas until golden brown.
Recipe from Cooking from Memory by Hayley Smorgon, Gaye Weeden and Natalie King, with photographs by Mark Roper. Published by Hardie Grant Books.
If you enjoyed this Chanukah empanadas recipe then browse more Argentinian recipes, appetiser recipes, side dish recipes, meat recipes, child-friendly recipes, entertaining recipes and our most popular hainanese chicken rice recipe.
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