Baked Empanadas with Smoked Trout and Avocado Sauce

Posted 2015-08-12 by finy ⇒ follow

Empanadas are a Latin American food with filled dough, though they are also made in other countries too.

The secret to a good empanada, especially if being baked and not fried, is to make the pastry extremely thin otherwise it is too over powering.

You can have many fillings and in this one I used smoked trout which, while rather expensive, is delicious, and I have mixed it with potatoes.

Preparation Time: 40 minutes plus resting time for dough
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: About 17

Ingredients
For the Empanada dough
2 eggs
3 cups plain flour
125 ml cold water
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp salt
60 g cold butter
Bit of extra flour for dusting
Bit of sweet paprika for dusting

For the Empanada filling**

200 g [link http://reviewclue.com.au/hot-smoked-trout-by-goulburn-river-trout/ smoked trout]
2 medium potatoes
2 tsp cumin
3 tsp sweet paprika
3 - 5 jalapeno chillies, diced
Juice of a lemon
50 ml olive oil
¼ bunch parsley, chopped finely

For the Avocado Sauce
1 ripe avocado
¼ cup lime juice
½ bunch coriander, chopped
1 - 2 jalapenos
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp cumin
Bit of salt to taste

Method
For the Avocado Sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a blender.

Blend until it turns into a smooth sauce.

Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

For the empanada dough

Separate one of the eggs and put egg white and yolk in separate dishes.

Whisk the egg yolks and keep aside for brushing later.

Add the remaining egg into the bowl with the egg white and add the water, and vinegar. Mix to combine.

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl. With your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it is slightly lumpy and coarse. Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg mixture.

Gradually fold the egg mixture into the flour with a fork until it forms into a dough. If the dough is sticky, add a bit more flour. If it is dry, add a bit more water.

Turn this dough onto a lightly floured surface (I used baking paper on the bench), and knead for a few minutes only. Do not overwork this dough.

Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling

Boil the potatoes until cooked. Chop them into small pieces (about 1 cm) while they are still warm and put in a medium bowl.

Peel off the skin of the trout, and shred.

This is how the fish looks before you take the meat off it

This is how the fish looks

Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

Preheat the oven to around 185° fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Divide the dough in half and then into about 8 pieces. Roll them into balls and flatten with a rolling pin. This is the part where you want it as thin as possible. The flat pieces should be about 11 cms each.

I used a biscuit cutter to cut the dough

Put a tbsp of the filling in the middle of each flat piece of dough, then fold over to enclose the filling. Crimp the edges together to seal and you can use a fork to give them a nicer look on the edges.