Mexican-inspired empanadas
A delicious and lightly spicy pastry filled with chilli beans. Serve with a side of garlic green beans or a simple salad and it’s a recipe the whole family will enjoy.
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
- 4 sheets Pams Ready Rolled Puff Pastry Sheets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or 1 ½ teaspoons Pams crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder (optional)
- 2 cans red kidney beans, drained
- 1 can diced plain tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 tablespoons flour
- Warm water
- 1 egg, beaten
Garlic Green Beans
- 1 ½ teaspoons crushed garlic
- 5 cups green bean
- ½ cup soy sauce
- Pepper, to taste
Method
- Thaw pastry according to instructions on the packet.
- Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook onions and garlic until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Mix well and allow to fry for approximately 2 minutes.
- Add in the kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the mixed vegetables to the pan and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool a little.
- Sprinkle the flour over a clean surface and lay a sheet of pastry on top of the flour (the flour stops the pastry from sticking to the surface). Cut the sheet of pastry into four squares.
- Fold each pastry square in half diagonally, like two triangles. Place 2 tablespoons of filling in the top half. Dip a finger into a cup with warm water and moisten the edges of the top half of each square.
- Fold the bottom half of the pastry over to meet the edges of the top half, to form a triangle. Use a fork to pinch and seal the edges and to poke a few holes on top to let steam escape. Place on a lined baking tray. Repeat until you have made 12 empanadas.
- Lightly brush the tops of the empanadas with the beaten egg. Bake for 10–15 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed.
Garlic green beans
Heat a frying pan on medium heat and stir fry the garlic with oil. Add the beans, soy sauce and pepper. Stir fry for 3–5 minutes. Serve the empanadas with a side of garlic green beans.