Spicy empanadas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ green pepper, deseeded and diced
1 Spanish chorizo cooking sausage (about 60g), diced
500 lean beef steak mince (5% fat)
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp chilli flakes
3 tbsp tomato purée
2 rolls of short crust pastry
1 egg, whisked
Sesame seeds
Salad to serve
Using a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and add the chorizo, cook until it starts to colour on the edges. Now and add the onion, cooking until it starts to look translucent. Next add the garlic and the pepper and cook for a further minute.
Now add the meat, stirring and breaking it up with the spoon so that it is browned all over. Add the spices and the tomato purée and cook for a further five minutes until all the flavours combine. Add salt and pepper. Leave to cool (not essential but it does make life a bit easier, pastry is not so keen on warm ingredients).
Heat oven to 180*, placing a baking tray in so it is hot when you add the empanadas. I use a silicone liner to ensure nothing sticks - this one is good https://amzn.eu/d/ean6668
When the mince is tepid cut the pastry into rounds (I use a pasty cutter, which folds and moulds the empanada… I have this one… https://amzn.eu/d/7Q7aerx ). I turn it upside down and cut the round. Then I place the pastry in the mould and add the mince mix - not too much or the pastry might break. Then close the mould to seal the empanada. Coat with a glaze of egg and sesame seeds. Cook at 180* for 15-20 minutes. Serve with salad