Beef Empanadas
Argentine-style beef empanadas, the onion cooked down low and slow in the beef fat until it collapses into a sweet, jammy base rather than staying crisp, since a soft, jammy sofrito is what carries the filling's moisture without making the dough soggy. Chilling the filling before it meets the dough and crimping with a proper repulgue fold, rather than a simple fork-press, is what keeps these sealed tight enough to bake without leaking.
Prep60 min
Cook25 min
Rest60 min
Servings16
Christoph's beef empanadas, the onion cooked down to a jammy sofrito so the filling stays moist without turning the dough soggy.
Ingredients
Written for a 30 × 40 cm baking sheet
Units
Temperature
Servings
Dough
- 500 g flour rounded
- 6 g fine salt rounded
- 120 g cold butter, cubed rounded
- 1 egg rounded
- 150 ml cold water, plus more as needed rounded
Filling
- 30 ml neutral oil rounded
- 400 g onion, finely chopped rounded
- 500 g beef mince rounded
- 10 g ground cumin rounded
- 8 g smoked paprika rounded
- 15 g tomato paste rounded
- 60 g green olives, roughly chopped rounded
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped rounded
- to taste fine salt and black pepper rounded
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash rounded
Method
- Make the dough. Rub the cold butter into the flour and salt until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and cold water and mix just until a dough comes together. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook slowly for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until fully collapsed and jammy rather than crisp.
- Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the mince and cook, breaking it up well, until no longer pink. Stir in the cumin, smoked paprika and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the olives and chopped eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely, then chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan). Roll the dough to about 3 mm thick and cut into 16 circles, about 12 cm across.
- Place a heaped tablespoon of cold filling in the centre of each circle. Brush the edge with water and fold in half to enclose the filling, pressing out any air.
- Crimp the sealed edge by hand, folding a small triangle of dough over itself and pressing down repeatedly along the curve, working from one end to the other, rather than pressing flat with a fork.
- Transfer to a lined sheet pan. Brush with beaten egg.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until deeply golden brown all over.
Method in the Thermomix
- Place the flour, salt and cold butter in the mixing bowl. Mix 5 sec/speed 5.
- Add the egg and water. Knead 20 sec/dough mode. Wrap and chill as in the hand method.
- Place the onion in the mixing bowl. Chop 3 sec/speed 5.
- Add the oil. Sauté 20 min/100°C/reverse/speed 1, until fully collapsed and jammy. Continue with the filling on the stove as in the hand method, from step 3.
Notes
- Cook the onion down slowly until it’s genuinely jammy, not just softened. A soft, sweet sofrito is what carries the filling’s moisture without making the dough soggy; onion that’s still got bite adds moisture without the body to absorb it.
- Chill the filling completely before it meets the dough. Warm filling softens the dough and makes it hard to seal cleanly.
- Learn the repulgue fold rather than pressing the edge flat with a fork. The rope-twist crimp seals far more tightly, which matters for a filling this moist; a fork-pressed edge is more likely to split open in the oven.
- They freeze well unbaked. Freeze on a tray until solid, then bag; bake from frozen, adding about 8 minutes.
Ingredient substitutions
- Raisins, a small handful stirred in with the olives, are traditional in many regional versions.
- A pinch of chilli flakes for those who like more heat.
- Ground beef can be swapped for shredded braised beef for a different texture.
From Christoph Mayer