Empanadas de Carne

Empanadas de Carne

Empanada Dough:
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons margarine (butter recommened)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 beat egg (recommended for baking)

Sift together the dry ingredients. Heat the milk and the margarine and bring almost to boiling point. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid. Mix well but do not knead much. Keep the dough warm and covered. Roll out rounds of 6 inches a few at a time, very thin. This dough is for fried empanadas but can be adapted for baking in the over (recommended) by adding butter and allowing rounds to be slightly thicker. (Hold beat egg for baking.)

Empanada filling:
8 ounces of ground beef (fish or gound chicken can be substituted, not recommended)
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 green or red pepper, finely chopped (perference of red pepper)
10 green or black olives, chopped (optional, not recommended)
3 tablespoons oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
raisins (optional, not recommended)


Brown meat with the onion, pepper, and olives in oil.

Preparation:

Heat oil if frying or heat oven to 350 degrees. Take 6 inch dough rounds and place 2 tablespoons of browned mixture into middle of dough round. Add 1 tsp. boiled egg cut in pieces (and optional raisins). Wet edges of dough round, fold round, seal dough edges with fingers.

If baking lightly coat top of sealed empanada with egg. Place in oven until dough is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Quanity 16.

(Taken from 'Recetas de la Mision Uruguay Montevideo Oeste', published in 1999, Hermana Suzie Monson, Carassaco, Uruguay. Modified slightly by J. Doug Minnick because of dislike towards chicken, fish, green pepper, olives, and deep fried empanadas.)