Sunshine State Eggfest Empanadas Part II Filling

Our Nicky

In my previous post I described how I made the dough. This post will cover the filling. The measurements are deliberately approximate as there really isn't a hard and fast set of rules about proportions of ingredients. If you make more filling than you have pastry for freeze it or eat it on it's own - it's an great meal in itself. If you have more pastry freeze it as long as it's well wrapped.

You will need

1 1/2 - 2 lbs good stewing beef chopped into 1/8" cubes(I used outside round but only after searing it on the Egg and cooking it sous vide for 24 hours - more on that in another post)
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 cup EVOO or good quality lard melted (I used EVOO)
3-4 med onions chopped
4-6 med potatoes in 1/8"dice
1 tsp - 1 tbs crushed red pepper flakes - to taste (I used 1 tbs)
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs smoked paprika
4- 6 green onions - chop white and green parts separately
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Half a cup of pitted green olives
3- 5 hardboiled eggs corsely chopped


The last two ingredients and the about 40% of the butter are better added when the empanadas are assembled. I added all the butter and the green olives to the mixture and omitted the hardboiled eggs as I need to freeze the empanadas for transportation to the Sunshine State Eggfest.

I think chopping the meat works better than grinding or buying already ground, it retains its juices better. I chopped the meat but I had already seared it on the egg and cooked it sous vide for 24 hours

Saute the onions in 4-6 tbs butter and a tbs of lard until translucent. Add white parts of green onions, cumin, smoked paprika and red pepper flakes.

Cut remaining butter into small pieces for later assembly and keep cool - the butter that is.

Sear meat in batches and spread it on a tray so it doesn't steam. When all the meat is seared add to the onions mixture

Add diced potatoes to a pan of cold salted water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 6- 7 minutes until tender.

The easiest way I've found to dice potatoes in a 1/8" dice is with one of those 'as seen on TV' dicers that press a 1/8" slice through a 1/8" grid. Doesn't work well for the meat though.

Add coarsely chopped oregano leaves, potatoes and EVOO to meat and onions mixture.

Stir in chopped green parts of green onions.
Cover and chill - overnight is fine. Test for seasonings the next day when the flavours have melded.

Assembly and cooking in Part III