Colombian Empanadas

Colombian Empanadas: Step by Step

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1. For the filling, cook the spring onions, tomatoes and garlic in the oil for 10 minutes to a thick sofrito. Add the cumin and achiote for 1 minute.

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2. Stir in the shredded beef, the mashed potato, the salt and enough broth to make the mixture moist but not wet. Cool completely.

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3. Mix the masarepa, achiote and salt, then add the warm water and oil and knead 3 minutes to a smooth, soft dough. Rest 10 minutes covered — it will stiffen.

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4. If it cracks when you press it, work in a little more water. It should be pliable, like plasticine.

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5. Roll walnut-sized balls and flatten each between two sheets of plastic to a 12 cm disc, about 3 mm thick.

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6. Peel back the top sheet, put a heaped tablespoon of cold filling on one half, and use the bottom sheet to fold the dough over into a half moon.

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7. Press the edge closed with the rim of a bowl or plate, which trims and seals in one movement.

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8. Check every empanada for cracks and patch them with a little wet dough.

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9. Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F and fry four at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and blistered.

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10. Drain on a rack and serve hot with ají and lime.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Keep an Eye on These

1. Roll between plastic sheets, never on flour.
2. Cold filling, always. Warm filling steams the dough open.
3. Patch any crack before frying or it will burst in the oil.

Ingredient Swaps

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

About This Recipe

The masarepa dough is stiffer and drier than a wheat pastry, so it is rolled between plastic sheets rather than on a floured surface — flour would only make it crack. Sealing them by pressing with a plate or a bowl rim gives a clean, tight edge, and any gap means oil gets in and the empanada bursts.

What to Serve It With

Ají picante · Lime wedges · A cold beer

Keeping Colombian Empanadas

Freeze uncooked on trays for 2 months and fry from frozen, adding 2 minutes.

Questions People Ask

Colombian Empanadas Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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