Beef empanada recipe

Directions

Filling (Prepare filling the day before)

1. Boil potatoes with enough water to just cover until cooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Sauté tomatoes, onion, green pepper and garlic in a pan with 1 tablespoon oil on medium-high heat. Add cumin and Goya Sazon and cook until all vegetables are tender (about 8 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over high heat and sauté beef with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until cooked halfway. Then add the tomato/onion/pepper mixture into the meat and stir until evenly coated. Let cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Stir in potatoes and let cook for 10 min. Turn off the heat and stir in parsley. Let cool and chill in refrigerator until cold, or overnight.

Dough and finishing

1. On a clean countertop, place flour in a mound and create a center like a volcano. Beat together eggs and milk. Add egg/milk mixture, butter, salt and sugar in the middle of the mound. Begin to mix dry and wet ingredients with your hands. Add water little by little as you are kneading until the dough comes together and it is solid, but still pliable for rolling. If it is too sticky, add more flour.
2. On a floured countertop and with a rolling pin, pinch off some dough and roll out into flat round disk 1/8-inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. (Through trial and error, you'll get the hang of how much dough that is.) Add a heaping teaspoon of the chilled meat mixture to the middle of the disk and fold over the dough into a half circle. Seal by pressing along the edge or with a fork or whatever creative technique you know.
3. In a deep frying pan, fry the empanadas with vegetable oil on medium-high heat with just enough oil where you can fry one side at a time. Fry until each side is golden brown.
4. Let cool slightly before serving.