One plant based ingredient I have not yet figured out is minced meat replacement. Usually my experiments have ended up with a wet gooey slush so this time I went for a dry recipe and put the stuff inside an empanada. Results are very promising.
Style: vegetarian. Taste: 95/100. Serves 2-3.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 1 paprika
- 3 eggs
- 100 gr pitted green olives
- 200 gr vegetarian minced meat (I used a soy based product)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 70 gr tomato purée
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 10 squares of puff pastry
How to make it
- Boil two of the eggs for 10 minutes, then put them quickly under cold water so that they are easy to peel. Chop the peeled eggs into small bits and the olives into rings
- Cut the onion and paprika into small pieces and fry them on low heat for 5 minutes. Then add the vegetarian minced meat, cumin, paprika powder and tomato purée and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add the olives, raisins and chopped eggs
- Get an oven tray and put a sheet of baking paper on it. If you use ready to use frozen puff pastry like I did, now take the squares from the freezer. Spread the six first squares on the oven tray and keep the other four in a pile so that they don’t thaw too fast. Wait that the six first squares thaw enough to bend, then put a lump of the mix you’ve made on the square, then fold it into a triangle. Close the open edges by pushing down with a fork
- Once you have ten empanadas made break the last egg into a cup, wisk it so that the yolk breaks, then cover each empanada with some runny egg for a nice golden color
- Bake the empanadas in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180 C (360 F), check also the puff pastry package for instructions. They are ready when the top is golden brown and on the bottom side the pastry in the middle is not gooey anymore
- The make a great snack or even a dinner with a green salad on the side. Enjoy!
