Squash, apple and caramelized onion empanadas

· by · in Baked goods, Entree, Freezer Meal, Hodgepodge, Latin, Vegetarian. ·

Photo of empanada cut in half

I’m trying pretty hard to get into freezer meals, because I literally never have time to cook during the week when school is on. Now that school is finally out for a month and a half it’s time to stock the fridge! I even considered buying a chest freezer and putting it in my storage unit but it’s probably really expensive…

Empanadas are your basic stuffed savory pastry, originating in Spain and being popular throughout Latin America. They are the Spanish version of pasty or the salvadoreño pupusa and are very easy to make (if a little time intensive).

I stole the base for this recipe from here, but scaled up the dough because it the recipe did not make enough dough for the amount of filling.

Yield

15-16 empanadas the size of your palm

Ingredients

  • Dough
    • 18 ounces (~4 cups) flour (I used mostly whole wheat)
    • 10 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks = 8 oz)
    • 2 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 10 tablespoons ice water
    • 2 tablespoon vinegar
  •  Filling
    • 1 acorn squash or similar amount of other squash
    • dashes cayenne and paprika for squash
    • 1 red onion
    • 1 yellow onion
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
    • ¾ teaspoons kosher salt
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    • 2 cups shredded cheddar, loosely filled
    • ½ apple
    • ½ pear (or just use one apple)

Directions

  1. Start cooking the onions with 2 tbsp of avocado oil (or whatever oil you have; recommend safflower, corn or generic vegetable) in a pan on medium heat. Don’t move them too much. It will take about 30-40 minutes to caramelize; check the pictures for help.
  2. While onions cook, roast the squash on baking sheets lined in foil or parchment paper at 400 for 8-10 minutes with the cayenne and paprika. Also grate the cheese.
  3. When onions are just about done, add in all the spices and vinegar and let cook 5 more minutes until well-incorporated.
  4. Add the apples and pear to the onions and toss around. Add the squash and mix all together. Turn off the heat and set aside.
  5. Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or your hands if it’s not too hot. Apparently 2 knives also works but that seems really hard so I don’t believe it and have never tried. Anyway, you’re looking for pea-sized butter chunks here–you don’t want to make it perfectly incorporated. Think pie crust.
  6. Once the butter is cut in, add the ice water and vinegar and mix together until it holds together when pressed. Now you’ve got a dough! If you refrigerate it for half an hour it will be easier to work with, but I didn’t and it went just fine. Note: you might have to make the dough in two steps (i.e. halve the amounts, make that much, use it up, then make more dough).
  7. To construct the empanadas: break off a piece of dough slightly larger than a golf ball. Flour your hands and press the dough ball between your palms until it is as flat as you can get it. Next, flour a surface (counter, cutting board etc) and continue pressing the dough flat on the surface until it is about the size of a CD. Make sure to keep things well-floured so it doesn’t stick. Place 2 spoonfulls of filling on one half of the dough, leaving about half an inch between the filling and edge; top with maybe an ounce of cheese (2 tbsp or so) and close the empanada by folding the side without filling over the filling. Press the edges together and decorate by pressing a fork’s tines into it around the edge (this also helps seal it).
  8. Freeze for later use, or bake immediately at 400°F for 20 minutes. Bonus: these fellas can go straight from the freezer to the oven with no change in cooking time or temperature.

Photos

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