What is an Empanada?
Empanadas are a Spanish or Latin-American pastry turnover filled with savory ingredients that are either baked or fried.
From the Spanish verb empanar, which means to coat or wrap in bread, the empanada is said to originate from Spain, although many countries claim empanadas as their own, including Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, the Caribbean, and the Philipipines. Because of this, you’ll no doubt stumble across empanadas with endless combinations of fillings and flavors. In fact, the Indian samosa gets its inspiration from the empanada.
Empanadas are usually shaped in half-moons and range in size from pop-em-in-your-mouth dumpling size to calzone size. They’re so popular that they’re appearing on food trucks, corner markets and everywhere else you can get food to go! Or try making your own!
The recipe below uses the baking method. The list of filling ingredients is extensive, but they’re easy to make. For the sake of ease, this recipe uses pre-frozen “disk” dough, which you can find in most supermarkets. The uncooked empanadas can be frozen for up to three months, individually wrapped in plastic and placed in re-sealable plastic bags. There’s no need to thaw before baking, they can go right from the freezer to the oven.
