Flaky pastry pies holding a creamy squash filling with nuggets of salty cheese. These empanadas aren't entirely authentic (i.e. not deep fried) but they're delicious enough not to care. Depending on what you have in the fridge, the filling can be tweaked to incorporate leftover cold cuts of meat (lamb is delicious), pitted black olives or other types of cheese.
Ingredients
For the pastry
230g butter, very cold
200g wholemeal spelt flour
200g plain white flour
large pinch sea salt
2 tsp cider vinegar
100 - 120ml ice cold water
For the filling
1 small butternut squash, halved & roasted
4 cloves garlic, roasted
small bunch thyme, leaves picked
2 tsp smoked paprika
150g feta cheese
salt + pepper, to taste
To finish
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
thyme, leaves picked
flaky sea salt
Instructions
To make the pastry, combine the flours and salt in a large bowl. Using a coarse cheese grated, grate the cold butter into the bowl and stir to combine. Add the vinegar and iced water, a tablespoon at a time, incorporating to a soft dough with flecks of butter. Knead a couple of times to combine then shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins.
To make the filling, scoop the roasted squash flesh out of its skin into a medium bowl and mash coarsely with the back of a fork. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skin and mash into the squash. Stir in the thyme and paprika then crumble in the feta and fold gently to combine. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as needed.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, lightly flour a work surface and roll out to a thickness of around 3mm. Use a round or fluted cutter (I used 10cm round for small ones and 15 for large) to press out circles for your empanadas.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/160 C fan. Scoop a spoonful of mixture into the middle of each circle, making sure to leave plenty of room around the edges. Brush one semicircle of edge with egg wash then fold over the other half to encase the filling, crimping the edges with a fork to hold it all together. Repeat until all your circles are filled.
Transfer the empanadas to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush all over with a little more egg wash and sprinkle with thyme leaves and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until crisp and golden - if you make your empanadas larger they may need a little longer.
Remove from the oven and enjoy warm or transfer to a baking rack to cool completely.
Perfect for lunch with a salad on the side, or to pack up and take on picnics. The empanadas will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days and can be reheated for 5 - 10 minutes in a warm oven.
Notes
To get the butter for my pastry extra cold, I pop it in the freezer for 45 minutes before starting the recipe.
Recipe by thelittleloaf at http://www.thelittleloaf.com/2015/09/01/squash-feta-empanadas/