Beef Empanadas

Method

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan). Roll the dough to about 3 mm thick and cut into 16 circles, about 12 cm across.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Transfer to a lined sheet pan. Brush with beaten egg.
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until deeply golden brown all over.

Method in the Thermomix

1. Place the flour, salt and cold butter in the mixing bowl. Mix 5 sec/speed 5.
2. Add the egg and water. Knead 20 sec/dough mode. Wrap and chill as in the hand method.
3. Place the onion in the mixing bowl. Chop 3 sec/speed 5.
4. 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.