Traditional Colombian empanadas
These bite-sized finger foods are great for entertaining.
SERVES
4
TO
6
Ingredients
- 907 grams ground beef
- 1 796 milliliter can diced tomatoes, drained, no liquid
- 1 cup diced Spanish onion
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black ground pepper
- 2 cups Yukon Gold potato, peeled, diced small
- 3 tablespoon canola oil
Masa Dough:
- 5 cups masa seca
- 3 cups warm water
- 4 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Filling:
- Season ground beef with salt, pepper, and all the spices.
- Pan fry with canola oil and minced garlic, until brown; look for the meat to separate and crumble.
- Add drained canned tomatoes and diced onions.
- Simmer until the whole mix comes together and the potatoes are nice and tender, approximately 30 minutes.
- Cool mix before using.
Masa/Dough:
- Mix all ingredients together until a dough starts to form; the dough should be slightly wet and sticky, add more water if needed.
- Keep the dough covered with a damp towel.
Assembly:
- With the assistance of a tortilla press, press small balls of dough into a flat circle.
- If you do not have a tortilla press, you can gently press the dough between two small cutting boards, or a rolling pin.
- Placing the dough on parchment paper, or in clean zip lock bags, works really well.
- Add one tablespoon of the meat filling to tortilla and fold to resemble a half moon.
- Pan-fry patties until golden brown in a sauté pan with canola oil; flip half way through the cooking process.
- Before frying, make ahead and refrigerate for up to two days or freeze for up to a month. Fry to serve.
