Not too long ago, I wanted empanadas for dinner. We were going to have some one night, but my mother didn’t feel like cooking. So what I did was take matters into my own hands and cooked some myself. I refused to wait until the weekend to eat empanadas.
In case anyone was wondering, no. That was not the first time I actually worked in the kitchen. It was just my first time actually cooking on my own.
The first thing I did was gather some of the ingredients for the first phase, which was to make the dough. It wasn’t too bad, though it took longer than I thought. Fortunately, I played some noise in the background (a Catriona Gray interview, surprised?) to help entertain me. Then the dough had to chill for an hour.
After finishing that, I had to get to chopping the ingredients and cooking the beef. Cooking the beef wasn’t hard, though I had to put in the ingredients, such as the chopped tomatoes, onions, tomato paste, and the spices. Once again, it took longer than I thought, but before I knew it, the dough was chilled.
After chilling the dough, I started making the empanadas for real. Actually constructing the empanada was time-consuming. Rolling out the dough, watering the edges, inserting the filling, closing it, putting egg wash- that takes longer than you think. Not super long, but it’s not extremely quick. At least not to me, which makes sense, because it was my first time cooking them.
Then they cooked in the air fryer for 10 minutes. In the end, the empanadas didn’t look aesthetically pleasing. I had closed the edges down with a fork, but that didn’t work. However, they were tasty. The filling was flavorful, though I probably should’ve turned it down on the dough. The empanadas were actually better tasting the next day, when I made a few for lunch. Though next time, they have to be tried deep-fried.
I didn’t take any photos of the actual process, because this isn’t a recipe. However, the recipe I followed will be linked down below.
Overall, it took me 2.5-3 hours from start to finish to cook dinner. That said, it was time well spent. It kept my mind off of negative things, and I could see why some people cook as a way to calm themselves down. I was exhausted in the end, but I would cook on my own again. I would love to try cooking empanadas again. Or I would try making something like enchiladas or fried wontons.
While on the subject of food, stay tuned! My new review on cultural snacks is coming up next.
Link to Empanadas recipe: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a52606/beef-empanadas-recipe/
