Zac's Chilean Beef Empanadas

Ingredients

Method: Preparing the Filling

1. Heat oil in a large saute pan or cocotte. Add the chopped onions and sauté over medium heat until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the beef, cumin, and paprika, with a large pinch of salt and a few spins of freshly cracked pepper. Sauté until the meat is cooked through, 5-7 min. Deglaze with stock, bring to a simmer and allow to cook down until liquid has almost completely evaporated.
2. Add the raisins, chopped green olives and oregano, and mix until combined. Taste your filling and adjust the salt as desired. Let the filling cool completely, preferably overnight in the fridge, before filling empanadas.
   
3. Meanwhile, set a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the eggs, straight from the fridge, to the rolling boil for 8 minutes. Remove from the pot and place in a bowl of iced water. Peel and chill overnight.

Method: Rolling the Dough

1. If you're using our recipe for homemade empanada dough, break off 1/4 of the dough and leave the rest wrapped in cling film, in the fridge. Flatten the dough until it is thick and wide enough to pass through the Marcato Atlas 150 Pasta Maker, with the rollers set to 0. Sprinkle a bit of flour over both sides of the dough and pass it through the pasta maker at 0. Fold the rolled dough like an envelope; the exposed sides should be the same width as the machine’s rollers. Roll the dough through the rollers set to 0 one more time, sprinkling with more flour if the dough is too sticky. Then increase the setting to 1, and roll through. Do this again for setting 2, and finally, 3. Be quick, as you want the pastry to be as cold as possible. 
   
2. On a lightly floured work surface, place the rolled out sheet and use an 11cm pastry cutter or bowl to make rounds. Set the rounds aside on a baking sheet lined with parchment; for every layer of prepared rounds, top with another sheet of parchment. (Keep the scraps aside, wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge; you can bring them all together in the end to make another sheet.)
3. Repeat the process for the remaining empanada dough and the combined scraps. 

Method: Shaping & Baking

1. Cut each peeled egg lengthwise, into 8ths, and set aside. Place a tablespoon of filling at the centre of each pastry round, and top with a piece of egg. Dab the edge of the round with water, then fold the pastry into a semi circle and press the edges down. Pleat the edges, or use a fork to score a pattern. Set shaped empanadas aside and repeat for the rest of the dough.
   
2. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan. On parchment-lined baking sheets (you can re-use the parchment from setting the rounds aside), place the empanadas an inch or so apart. Brush each empanada with egg yolk wash (two whisked egg yolks). Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until nicely browned. Let empanadas cool slightly, but serve them while warm.
   

BK Tips

• If you are making these empanadas for a party, we suggest making them a day ahead and storing in the fridge; bake according to the instructions above.