January brought snow and crazy double digit negative temperatures to Chicago. So, I’m happy to see February has come with sunshine and rising temperatures. Hopefully the worst of winter has passed. However, the upside to all that cold and multiple zoom school days is the time we got together. While it was far too cold to venture out, I was busy at home working on a new recipe for beef empanadas. Nothing brightens a cold gray day quite like Tex-Mex empanadas and a margarita.
I love Mexican empanadas and so does my family but making the homemade masa dough is a lot of work which has kept us from enjoying them as often as I would like. So, after trying a puff pastry version at Stephanie Izard’s Peruvian restaurant Cabra, I decided that I would give it a try. Using ready made Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry was a game changer because it made it much easier to make them on a week night.
My family has loved the recipe and it has become a new dinner favorite. I like to serve my beef empanadas with a side of guacamole and black beans. I could also see making these empanadas as a party or Superbowl dish. Served them on a platter with a couple of small bowls of guacamole and sour cream. They are so delicious that its hard not to feel happy when you are eating one. So add a little Tex-Mex sunshine to any week night dinner or fiesta no matter the forecast!
Beef Empanadas – Serves 4 to 6
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1¼ pound ground beef
- 1/3 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 teaspoons seasoning
- 1 box puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon of water
Tex-Mex Seasoning Mix
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
Simple Guacamole
- 2 large or 4 small avocados, peeled and pitted
- 1 teaspoon Tex-Mex seasoning mix
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place skillet over medium heat add 2 tablespoons oil. Once the oil is heated, add the diced onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the ground beef and stir and brown. Once it’s almost cooked through carefully drain the fat from the pan. Return the pan to the stovetop and season the meat to taste with about 3 teaspoons of the seasoning mix and finish cooking. Put meat to the side to cool a bit while working on rolling out the puff pastry.
On a lightly floured silicon baking mat or counter roll one of the pastry sheets out to a larger rectangle approximately 20 x 14. Then cut six 5-to-6-inch circles out. I like to use a small 6-inch bread plate that I have and cut around it with a table knife. Don’t worry if for some reason you run short cutting them out, you can just take the scraps and reroll them to make it. Then repeat with the second pastry sheet so you have 12 circles.
Make the egg wash in a small mixing bowl whisk together the egg and 1 teaspoon of water. Next assemble the empanadas. Using a pastry brush paint the outside edges of the dough disc with the egg wash which will help them seal well. 
Then put about 2 tablespoons of ground beef filling in the center. Fold the dough over in half.
Then fold the outside edge over and crimp with the tines of a fork. Repeat the empanada assembly until all 12 are finished.
Finally prick the top of each empanada with a fork two times to allow steam to escape while baking and brush the tops with the egg wash. Place on two baking sheets or baking stones.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown.
While the empanadas are baking make a quick guacamole. In a medium sized bowl mash together the avocados and lime juice. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the Tex-Mex seasoning and stir. Season to taste with kosher salt.
Serve the beef empanadas with the guacamole and sour cream. If I am serving these for dinner, I serve them with a side of black beans.
So bake something happy for dinner this weekend!
