Another wonderful, exciting date night for the books!
Jack and I usually spend our Thursday or Friday nights watching YouTube videos looking for ideas for our next date night destination in quarantine. This was something we have really taken to during Covid-19 because, of course, we can’t travel right now and this is a way to keep us learning and exploring new things together.
We came across an Argentinian Food Tour video and were immediately inspired when we saw Empanadas! We decided that for our Saturday date night in this week, we’d make homemade Empanadas from scratch with fresh Chimichurri.
When we decide on what we would like to make we will usually watch several videos and look up a bunch of recipes and take what we like from all of them but still make it our own. Since Jack and I are pescatarians, it was easy to look up recipes that were vegetarian and we enjoyed adding in whatever ingredients we like.
Finally, we always make sure to order some wine that goes with our theme since we absolutely love wine and truly enjoy learning about the different varietals and vintages specific to a region. Our pick for this week was a 94 point rated Malbec from the Mendoza region of Argentina. We loved it!
We love to also find a playlist with current hits from whatever country we are visiting and Spotify's playlists most definitely did not disappoint! We had an absolute blast and I hope this inspires you to travel to new places in your own home and try new things!
I did my best to write up our versions of the recipes we used for our meal.
Empanada Dough:
· 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
· 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter (we opted for vegan butter,) cut into 1/2-inch cubes
· 1 large egg
· 1/3 cup ice water
· 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Mix cold ingredients in large mixing bowl and then slowly add in dry ingredients making sure the dough is forming smoothly and there are no pockets of flour that haven’t been mixed.
Once mixed, knead dough until easily molded into a ball and then flatten into a tick rectangle shape that will be easily wrapped and stored in the fridge for at least an hour. This will be perfect timing to make your filling, and any sides you’d like. Don’t forget to also preheat your over to 450 degrees.
Filling
· 2 carrots
· 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
· 1 small onion
· 1 teaspoon cumin
· 1 tsp sea salt
· 3 peeled garlic cloves
· 4 scallions
· 1/3 cup cilantro
· 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can black beans (drained)
· 1 cup corn kernels
· 2 cup shredded cheese
· 2 bell peppers
· 1 jalapeno
Toss all of your ingredients into a food processor and process until finely chopped. We chose to also sauté some red onion and spinach and pat dry and add to the mixture for extra flavor (but mostly because our spinach would go bad if we didn’t use it up!). Set aside.
Chimichurri
· 1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, trimmed of thick stems
· 3-4 garlic cloves
· 2 Tbsps fresh oregano leaves (can sub 2 teaspoons dried oregano)
· 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
· 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
· 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
· 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
· 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Chop the parsley, fresh oregano, and garlic- or you can process in a food processor. Place in a small bowl. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Refrigerate for the time being but remember to return to room temperature before serving. This is so delicious and great because you can keep it for a week or two before it goes bad.
Now it’s time to go back and get your dough. On a clean lightly floured counter, roll out your dough until it is about ½ inch thick. Then use any lid (or circle type object) that will make the desired size circle cut outs that you’d like. We used a large pickle jar lid and it worked perfectly.
Once you have your cutouts, sprinkle with cheese, add a couple spoonful’s of filling and then slowly and carefully fold over your dough into a taco shape and press the edges together. You can then seal them shut with a fork pressing down on the edges all the way around the opening where both sides meet. This also creates that pretty Empanada decoration we are familiar with. Repeat.
After your Empanadas are assembled, line them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet, brush them with an egg wash to get that gorgeous golden gloss look (1 egg beaten- you likely won’t use it all. We cooked it up for our dog, Addie so nothing would go to waste) and then bake them at 450 degrees for 30-35 min.
Serve with your Chimichurri, a glass or 3 of your favorite Argentinian wine and enjoy!
Lots of love,
Suni
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