Simple Spanish Food

Spicy Mushroom Empanada, empanada de champiñones adobados

I would call this a vegetarian version of an empanada de carne adobada, but it's a good empanada in its own right.  The pimentón gives it a nice smoky depth of flavor.  Serve as a tapa. It's fantastic with a dark sherry.

Here's how to make it.

Ingredients

empanada dough (see my post on Galician empanadas to learn how to make it).

1 lb of mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/3 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of Pimentón

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of pine nuts

a splash of sherry vinegar

 

Prepare the dough the same way you would for a Galician empanada.

Preheat the oven to 500.

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic, thyme,  mushrooms, and salt. Cook them until the liquid has evaporated--about ten minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool a little. Add the pimentón and the sherry vinegar and stir.

Divide and roll out the empanada dough as you would for a Galician empanada.

Place one sheet of the dough on a baking pan and spread the spicy mushroom mixture onto it. Sprinkle on some pine nuts.

Put the other sheet of dough on top.  Crimp the edges and cut some vents for steam to escape.

Bake the empanada in a 500 degree oven for 12-15 minutes--or until the crust is golden.

Cut into squares or wedges and serve.

 

Empanada de vieiras, a scallop empanada

 

Many of the best Galician empanadas are made with exotic seafood ingredients, such as fresh berberechos (cockles) or congrio (eel) that are difficult if not impossible to find in the U.S. Empanada de vieiras (scallops) is an exception.  It's delicate, rich, almost buttery (though there is no butter in it), and yet can be made with the previously frozen scallops available in most supermarkets. It tastes like the best seafood empanadas of  Galicia, and it's easy to make. 

Ingredients:

For the crust

2 cups of flour

1 egg

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of water

 salt

For the filling

1 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 pound of scallops

saffron

salt

First  mix the ingredients for the dough in a large bowl.

Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Let it rest an hour or so.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 525. 

Saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil. When the onion is soft and translucent, add a pinch of saffron and a pinch of salt.

Divide the dough evenly in two. Roll out each piece into a round or rectangular shape until the dough is the thickness of a coin. 

Place one sheet of the dough on a baking pan.

Spread the onion and pepper mixture evenly onto the dough. Slice the scallops 1/4 thick and arrange them on top.

Put the other piece of dough on the top. Crimp the edges. Cut some vents.

Bake the empanada for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cut the empanada as you would a pizza and serve it as main course or as a tapa.

A Spicy Spanish Meat Pie: Empanada de Carne Adobada

This is an old-style empanada like the ones Ana used to eat in Galicia (in the Northwest of Spain) as a kid.  It has a flaky, crunchy crust of olive oil pastry, and a filling of caramelized onions and a small amount of chopped meat that has been marinated in an adobo--a sauce of vinegar, olive oil, garlic, a generous amount of smoky pimentón, and other spices.  It's a great way to use left over carne adobada (click here for recipe).

This empanada would typically be made with marinated pork loin, but you could use other meats.  As I explain in my post on cholesterol I don't eat a lot of meat because I'm on a low-cholesterol diet. When I do, I often cook venison, which is healthier and (to me) better tasting.  It's also considered a delicacy in Spain, where an empanada of venison marinated in adobo would be something of a luxury tapa.  If you don't have access to venison, grass-fed beef, free-range pork, or even bison would work well too.

 

Here's how to do it:

First, make an adobo and marinate the meat of your choice.  See my post on a simple Spanish marinade for meats (carne adobada) for the recipe and more information.   Reserve a small amount of uncooked, marinated meat--1/3 of a pound or so--for this empanada.  As you're going to chop the meat, the "odds and ends" are fine. Again, the reserved meat should be raw. (It freezes well, by the way, so you can save the meat until you're ready to make this empanada).

Next, make the crust. See my post on empanada gallega for a recipe for an olive oil pastry crust.

Saute two large, chopped onions in 1/3 cup of olive oil, over medium heat. When they are soft and slightly caramelized, add a small pinch of saffron.

Chop fine about five ounces of the marinated meat. 

Remove the onions from the heat. Allow them to cool. Add the chopped meat and stir.

Now roll out the crust and assemble the empanada as I describe in my post on empanada gallega.

Bake the empanada for 12-15 minutes in a very hot oven (525 degrees) until the crust is golden.  You can also bake this empanada in a kamado or Big Green Egg. The results are even better. See my post on baking empanadas in a kamado or Big Green Egg for details.

A Simple Spanish Recipe for Spinach, Apple, and Walnut Empanada (Empanada de espinacas, manzana, y nueces)

In Spain it is common to combine spinach (or chard) with fruit and nuts of some kind.  The most famous of these combinations is probably the Catalan classic dish spinach, raisins, and pine nuts, which can also be used to fill turnovers or empanadas. (See  my post on a spinach, pine nut, and raisin empanada for more information.) In her book La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain Penelope Casas gives an Andalusian recipe for sauteed spinach with quince and toasted sesame seeds, which would also make a great empanada filling.

In this recipe I combine sauteed spinach, apples, and toasted walnuts.  The resulting empanada is quite hearty, almost sweet--a perfect tapa or main dish for late-fall, winter. It would be great for a Spanish-style holiday meal.  This empanada is vegetarian, and can be made vegan if you substitute Egg Replacer for the egg in the crust.  It's also low in cholesterol, as the pastry crust contains olive oil rather than butter.

Here's the recipe.

For the crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water

1 egg

Salt

For the filling

1/3 cup of walnuts, toasted in olive oil and salt (see my post on toasting nuts the Spanish way for more info.)

1/3 cup virgin olive oil

1 large bag of pre-washed spinach (or one bunch of spinach, washed well with large stems removed)

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 large apple, peeled if you like (I leave the peel on),  cut into a coarse dice. 

salt and pepper to taste

First make the dough for the crust.  Mix all of the ingredients for the crust with a fork in a medium sized bowl.

Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered with cellophane, for one hour.

To prepare the filling, first rinse the spinach. Throw the spinach into a large pot.  Wilt it quickly over high heat. Pour cold water over it. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the spinach dry and coarsely chop it.

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent and golden. Add the chopped apples. Cook a few minutes more. Add the spinach, toasted walnuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and remove the pan from the heat.

To construct the empanada, divide the dough in half. Make two equal-sized dough balls. Roll out each to a 14" circle (or a rectangle, depending on the shape and size of your baking sheet.) Place one piece of rolled-out dough onto an oiled baking sheet.  Spread the  spinach-apple-nut filling onto  the dough, nearly to the edges.

Now place the other piece of rolled-out dough on top. Fold over the edges and press them with a fork to seal. Cut vents into the top of the empanada.

Bake the empanada in a very hot oven, 525-550 degrees, for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Slice it into triangles as you would a pizza.  You can serve it hot, but it's great at room temperature too.

You can also bake this empanada in a kamado oven (Big Green Egg).  See my post on baking empanadas in a kamado (Big Green Egg) for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

Empanada of Spinach, Pine Nuts, and Raisins (Empanada de espinaca, piñones y uvas pasas)

Spinach, pine nuts, and raisins are a classic Catalan combination, and to put them into a Gallician style empanada is not exactly typical.  In fact, Esperanza, my mother-in-law, tells me she has never heard of such a thing.  But it's a great combination. The crust stays crisp and flaky, while the filling is rich with olive oil and pine nuts, and slightly sweet, thanks to the raisins. This dish could be made vegetarian/vegan simply by replacing the egg in the crust with Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer.

For the crust:

2 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 egg

 

For the filling

1 bag of pre-washed spinach

1/4 cup of pine nuts

1/4 cup of raisins

1/4 (or more) olive oil

salt to taste

In a medium sized bowl, mix the ingredients for the crust with a fork.  Knead the dough until it forms a ball.  Cover the dough and let it rest for an hour.

In the meantime, prepare the spinach.  Rinse and drain the spinach.  In a large pot on high heat, cook the spinach quickly until just wilted. This usually takes only 2 or 3 minutes. Pour the spinach into a colander. Rinse it with cool water until it's completely cool and bright green. Squeeze the spinach.  You should be left with a handful of compacted spinach.  Coarsely chop it.  In a frying pan, combine the spinach with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  

Divide the dough.  Form two dough balls. They should be roughly equal in weight.  Roll each out into a fourteen-inch circle.  Rub a large baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle it with semolina or cornmeal. Place one rolled-out circle of dough on the prepared baking sheet.  Spread out the the spinach-oil mixture onto the dough, nearly to the edges. Sprinkle the spinach with the pine nuts and raisins.

Place the other rolled-out circle of dough on top. Roll the edges with your fingers, and crimp the edges with a fork.  Slice vents in the top, as you would for a pie. Rub the empanada down with more olive oil.

Bake in a hot (500 degree) oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.

If you have a wood-burning oven, a kamado oven (Big Green Egg), or a large pizza stone, the crust will come out even better.  See my post Baking Empanadas on a Kamado/Big Green Egg for more information.

Baking Empanadas in a Kamado oven (Big Green Egg)

The best empanadas I had in Galicia were baked in wood burning ovens. For years I experimented with recipes for the perfect empanada crust,  never realizing that the secret was not only in the ingredients, but in the wood burning ovens used in Spain.

Recently my father gave me Big Green Egg, a type of Kamado. It is essentially a small wood burning oven with very good temperature control. When I bake my empanadas on the Big Green Egg, the crusts come out very much like those I had in Galicia: flaky, crispy, crunchy, and flavorful.

Instead of assembling my empanada on an oiled baking sheet, I turn the baking sheet over, and use it as a baker's peel or paddle. I place on the inverted baking sheet a piece of parchment. I oil the parchment, sprinkle it with semolina or cornmeal, and I assemble the empanada on the on the paper.

I fire up the oven, insert the baking stone, and preheat it to 550 F.  I then slide the empanada, parchment and all, onto the hot stone. Yes, the paper will burn around the edges. It doesn't matter.  I close the oven and bake the empanada for ten or fifteen minutes, until golden.

Galician-style Tuna Empanada, empanada gallega de bonito, or empanada gallega de atún

There are many recipes for Galician-style tuna empanadas out there. Many of them produce thick, rather heavy pies with lots of filling and a bready crust.

This recipe is for the more delicate, thinner type of empanada found in the towns of Santiago de Compostela and Orense.  The crust is an olive oil pastry.  After years of experimenting, I found the recipe for this pastry in Richard Olney's classic  Simple French Food. This crust is flaky, crisp, crunchy at the edges--not at all bready.  In my opinion, it makes a much better tapa.

The filling is mainly good olive oil tinted with saffron, a little sauted onion, roasted pimiento, and bits of tuna.  Variations include eel, cockles, or pimenton-spiced pork, but the following recipe is for the tuna, which is the easiest (and my favorite).

This recipe explains how to bake the empanada in an ordinary oven, but I usually cook empanadas now in a kamado oven (Big Green Egg) because the the crust comes out even better.  Please see my post Baking Empanadas in a Kamado Oven (Big Green Egg) for more information.

 Ingredients

For the crust :

2 cups of all purpose flour

¼ cup of fruity olive oil

¼ cup of water

1 large egg

½ teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

1/3 cup of fruity olive oil (or more)

1 large yellow onion, or 2 small ones, chopped

1 large, mild red pepper, roasted, peeled, and sliced.  See my post on Flame roasted pepper salad for more information on how to roast peppers. Or substitute a good brand of fire-roasted pimientos sold in jars. La Tienda sells high-quality piquillo peppers.

1 5-ounce can of tuna fillet packed in olive oil

a pinch of saffron, ground in the mortar with a little salt, and soaked in a teaspoon of warm water for 10 minutes

Mix the above ingredients with a fork.

 

Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for at least one hour.

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent, but not brown. Add the peppers, the saffron, and the tuna, and stir, breaking up the tuna. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.

For the assembly:

Rub a large sheet pan with olive oil. You’ll want to choose a pan with edges, not a flat one, or else the oil will run into your oven and make a lot of smoke.  Divide the dough in two. Shape two dough balls of equal size/weight.  On a clean work surface, roll out each dough ball into the desired shape and size. A14-inch circle is the standard shape, but if you need to make the empanada oval shaped to fit your baking sheet, that’s fine. You can roll the dough out a little larger than the pan, as you’ll be folding up the edges to seal the empanada.  

Spread the filling out evenly, nearly to the edges of the dough.

Place the other piece of dough on top. Roll the edges together with your fingers, and press them with a fork to make a seal. With a sharp knife, cut vents in the top, as you would on a pie. Rub the empanada down with more olive oil.

 

 

Bake from 12-15 minutes in a very hot oven—500+ degrees—or until empanada turns golden.  Slide it onto a cooling rack.  Slice into triangles, as you would a pizza, and serve at room temperature, as a tapa, a pincho or a picar--a canapé.