Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 70 minutes
Servings: 10 empanadas
Growing up, every now and then my mother and I would make Empanadas de Pino. These golden, sweet and savory little baked bundles of joy remind of me being at home with my family or better yet, actually in Chile! This is my own personal twist on the classic Empanada de Pino, meaning I go a little heavy on the onion and raisins, leading to a sweeter and more moist pino filling.
Pros: easy to freeze for later, can eat them on the go, DELICIOUS
Cons: slightly labor intensive
Ingredients for Pino (empanada filling):
1 lb of ground beef (we used 85%-15% meat-fat ratio)
1 cup of chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup of raisins
Salt
3 cloves of garlic
Merken (a Chilean smoked pepper similar to a lightly smoked paprika)
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
Ingredients for Empanadas:
10 large empanada doughs (Goya to the rescue)
One egg yolk
20 olives
3 hard boiled eggs
Small saucer of water
We first prepare the pino. Finely chop your onion and dice your garlic.
Add a dash of olive oil to a hot pan and toss in your onions and garlic.
After a couple minutes of the onion and garlic cooking, add in the ground beef. Make sure the break up the clumps of ground beef with your weapon of choice.
Season with the sugar, merken, and salt (to taste).
Continue cooking until the meat is fully cooked and most of the liquid has reduced off. Mix in your flour to thicken the remaining juices. Set the meat mixture aside for a bit to allow it to cool. We popped ours in the freezer.
As you wait, soft boil your eggs. Peel and cut them into quarters.
Once the meat mixture is no longer hot hot, we can begin making the actual empanadas! One by one, place about about a tablespoon and a half into the center of an empanada dough. Add two olives (we used one black and one green) and a slice of egg.
Dip your fingers in water and run them along the edges of the dough.
Gently press the edges of the dough together to seal the empanada. There are various methods of folding the dough to make the edges attractive. As you can see from our photo, you can fold, crimp, or twist. Experiment and find what works/looks best for you!
Lay your finished empanadas out on an oiled baking tray.
Crack an egg, drop the yolk into a small bowl, and mix it up.
With a silicon brush (or a napkin rubber banded to the end of a chop-stick), baste the egg yolk mixture over the top of the empanada.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the outside has reached a nice golden brown.
Let cool (or dont and burn your mouth), and enjoy!