Argentine Empanadas

A project for Lottie's spanish lesson, she cooked these empanadas for lunch one day as we were just coming out of the lockdown and was still doing school from home. They were absolutely delicious. We made ours with puff pastry because its what we had in the freezer and that was yum. The original recipe as I've listed below uses shortcrust pastry and I've seen somewhere an empanadas pastry which I'll try and find to put in here too.

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1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

Small bunch coriander, stalks and leaves separated

2 cloves garlic

Red chilli, chopped (1/2 - 2 full ones minus seeds, depending on how hot they are)

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp died oregano

500g minced beef

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup beef stock

Black spanish pitted olives, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

5 sheets shortcrust pastry

1 eggs (with a splash of milk) whisked up

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Pre-heat the oven to 220C. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, and fry the onions, coriander stalks, garlic, chilli, spices and orgegano until fragrant - 3-4 mins.

Add the mince and brown for 3-4 mins, breaking up the lumps. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further 1 minute before adding the stock. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 mins until the sauce is reduced and thick. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Cut out 12 cm rounds out of the pastry and put onto a lined baking tray.

Back at the mince, remove the coriander stalks and stir through the olives.

Place 1.5-2 tbsp of mixture onto hte ronds, wet the edges of the pastry and fold in half, crimping the edges in whatever style you like to help seal it. Brush with the egg wash and cook in the hot oven for 12 minutes (approx) until golden brown.

Eat while they're still warm.