Argentinian Empanadas
Lower fat version of a Latin American favorite. This is a family recipe. Great as an appetizer or main dish. These are spicy, you can use less crushed red pepper for a milder version. Could also substitute beef for the turkey, but I promise, these have lots of flavor with turkey!
Lower fat version of a Latin American favorite. This is a family recipe. Great as an appetizer or main dish. These are spicy, you can use less crushed red pepper for a milder version. Could also substitute beef for the turkey, but I promise, these have lots of flavor with turkey!
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- dash salt
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- pam cooking spray
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or use 1.25 lb turkey package
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds if cannot find, use crushed sees, a bit less
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper or less to taste
- 1 bunch scallions chopped
- 2 flame roasted red peppers chopped. found jarred or canned
- 20 pimiento-stuffed olives chopped
- 20 goya empanada circles*
- Carbohydrate 2.5211145008215 g
- Cholesterol 27.222898615 mg
- Fat 3.29203799086712 g
- Fiber 0.396634998174086 g
- Protein 4.79298689070092 g
- Saturated Fat 0.673980316459355 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (34g)
- Sodium 42.3805413902425 mg
- Sugar 2.12447950264741 g
- Trans Fat 0.430567128781581 g
- Calories 58 calories
Step-by-step
- Set out empanada circles* to defrost, per package instructions.
- With some Pam, quickly dry roast cumin seeds and crushed red pepper.
- Add ground turkey, scallions, garlic, flame roasted red pepper and salt. Brown until meat is done.
- Remove from heat and stir in raisins, olives, and pine nuts.
- Place about 1 tablespoon of mixture in each empanada dough circle. Close by crimping with fingers or using a fork to press dough closed around the rounded edge.
- Brush with egg and bake at 400 degrees, 18-20 minutes, until slightly browned.
Unlike soft flour tortillas that demand immediate assembly and consumption at the table, sealed pastry turnovers offer remarkable make-ahead flexibility for any host managing multiple kitchen tasks simultaneously. Toasting whole cumin seeds briefly in a dry pan releases essential oils locked inside the hard hull much more effectively than using pre-ground powder that has sat on a spice rack for months. While ground turkey naturally contains less fat than traditional beef fillings, incorporating chopped raisins and briny olives directly into the warm mixture prevents the lean meat from drying out during the final oven phase. Defrosting twenty frozen dough discs requires careful timing on the counter because thin pastry circles exposed to ambient air for too long will become sticky and difficult to seal properly without tearing. Dividing the savory filling requires portioning roughly one tablespoon per disc to ensure each pocket seals cleanly without bursting open along the crimped edge during baking. Brushing the assembled pastries with a beaten egg wash promotes rapid browning through the Maillard reaction when placed in a preheated 400 degree oven for eighteen to twenty minutes. Doubling the batch for larger gatherings simply requires staggering baking sheets on multiple oven racks and rotating them halfway through the cooking time to maintain even heat circulation. Proper cooling on a wire rack prevents moisture accumulation on the bottom crust, preserving the flaky texture until serving time.
