I searched high and low for a good vegetarian empanada recipe but came up with nothing. My lovely and very talented friend Kristin from Kristin Buesing developed this recipe and I can’t get enough! I know they aren’t health food, but sometimes you have to treat yourself. . . like everyday. . .
Deep fried pastry is SO.DELICIOUS. It should completely repel me with my dieting attempts but it is all I want to eat today. Unfortunately I have developed some self control and have stopped eating them. Maybe that is quite fortunate. I am absolutely horrified that bikini season is just around the corner again. Living 50m from the beach means I pretty much have to be prepared for a beach trip all year round. I do get squidgy and lazy in Winter though!
You MUST make the salsa and lime sour cream to go with this. It makes it! A refreshing little take on empanadas. The lime sour cream is just as it sounds, lime juice stirred through sour cream. So delicious!!!
I know it is a lot of steps, but it is well worth it. If you are going to make this, make extras and freeze them in air tight containers to eat another day. You can put them into the deep fryer frozen and they hold their shape really well. The salsa and sour cream isn’t hard to make and empanadas are sure to impress your guests next time you have a few unexpected pop ins!
Follow my lead. . .
Ingredients
Dough
- 450g plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 210ml chilled water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 x 59g free range egg, lightly whisked
- 50g ghee or clarified butter, cubed
- Place flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the water, vinegar and egg and mix until combined. Add the ghee or butter to the dough and mix well with your hands until the butter has blended and the dough has just come together.
- Knead dough for 3 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then knead for a further 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to 35cm x 75cm and place on a board and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hour.
- Using a 14cm pastry cutter, cut dough into circles and re-roll dough until all is used.
Filling
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 300g potato, finely diced
- 100g carrot, finely diced
- 100g frozen peas, thawed
- 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced
- 90g currants
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
- In a frypan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until golden brown. Add the potato, carrot and peas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the chilli, currants, paprika, cumin and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the parsley and eggs and place 2 tablespoons of filling one side of the dough and enclose dough over filling, pinching the edges to seal.
- Fill and preheat a 3 litre deep fryer to 180C. Deep fry empanadas in batches until golden brown. Dry on paper towel and serve with tomato salsa and lime sour cream.
- Chew.
Salsa
- 5 vine ripened tomatoes, seeded, very finely diced
- 1 red onion, very finely diced
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped
- Fold all ingredients together in a bowl until combined and serve with empanadas.
Lime Sour Cream
- 1 cup sour cream
- juice of 1 lime
- Fold the sour cream and lime together until combined and serve with empanadas
We do a savoury and sweet version in India. I would be excited to try this filling and see how my family likes it.
Lovely recipe
Like samosas Anita? Yum! I love them
Ohhhh yeah….that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Yum yum YUM!!
Yes, I definitely agree we need to indulge once in a while, and seriously I don’t mind indulging in your wonderful looking vegetarian empanadas! They look so tempting!
I know Mich, I have to stop looking at food. It’s kind of hard when I’m surrounded by beautiful blogs though!
I agree with Anita. The ingredient has so much similarity to Indian samosas. Yum
It does sound like it Kiran
so very true! just that the spice combination seems less hitting.
Must be a wonderful afternoon snack
Perfect for anytime I think!
This is the perfect snack in the afternoon with some hot “chai”.
They would go well together!
huhu Cass! =D
I just discovered mexican food for me and my husband loves that stuff as well. He always begs me to make crispy deep fried stuff these days. Since you are saying that this is THE recipe, I have to try it out one of these days.
Thanks for sharing dear!
I wish I could eat deep fried food without putting on weight. I think I would just keep eating these!
i totally agree with you! deep fried pastry is indeed delicious!
Naughty but just the best!
The hard-boiled egg in the filling sounds so good! Love the salsa and sour cream for topping these too. I’m not sure I’d have much self control around these.
I had zero. I was hurting full and still eating them!
Fabulous – yum!! I am printing out your recipe right now
Looks so tasty!!
Thank you!!
Enjoy Anne
Love it! this is right up my alley, cannot wait to try it out.
Soo good. Glad to see you are back!
Pingback: Recipe Roundup: Salads, Sandwiches and Sweets (August 2012) | Food for Foodies by This American Bite
Thank you for inspiring me! I have included this recipe in my August Roundup. Please stop by and let me know what you think of the post.
I will pop by now! Thank you for including me again
I would like to take a day off to try some of your recipe! This is one of my favourite.
Thanks Daniela, you should!
Yum! These look great – i’m thinking of making them for a party. If they have already been deep friend and then cooled, what is the best way to reheat them??? Thanks!
Just pop them into the oven at a high heat Sarah
Approx 200C.
Thanks! How many empanadas does this make???