I kind
of have an obsession with compartmentalizing things and placing things in boxes
and bags. When I was little
my mom would always find me storing things in assorted packages and leaving
them around the house. Why I felt the
need to do this I don’t know (I am sure some psychologist would have a field
day analyzing this) but, what I do know is that I still love the idea of
packaging things up in little containers which is probably why I LOVE empanadas. Empanadas if you are unfamiliar with them are
little dough “purses” that encase a savory (and sometimes sweet) filling. Traditionally they have a ground beef
filling, which is the one my mom usually makes, but for a riff on the classic I
made a chicken version this past weekend.
The combination of chicken and sausage is irresistible and the addition
of briny olives and sweet raisins ensure that each bite is loaded with flavor. Despite the small amount of smoked paprika in
the dish, I urge you to seek it out since it in parts a great deal of flavor. This is the kind of thing to make on a rainy
weekend afternoon when you have nothing better to do then spend time some
quality time in the kitchen.
Chicken Empanadas with
Sausage and Olives
Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen
I halved the original recipe from
Smitten Kitchen since we currently have a minimal amount of freezer
space. Still, I was able to
make 14 empanadas from the dough using a 4 ½ inch circular cookie cutter.
For the Dough
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut
into ½ inch cubes
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon distilled white
vinegar
For the Filling
A little over 1 pound of chicken
thighs (or legs and thighs)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive
oil
1 large onion, halved lengthwise,
and the cut into ¼ inch wide strips
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
1 link pork sausage or chorizo (I used pork
and poblano), removed from casing
Generous ¼ teaspoon smoked
paprika (I used hot)
3 tablespoons chopped pitted
green olives
2 tablespoons raisins
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup water or chicken stock
Make dough: Sift flour with salt
into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture
resembles coarse meal with some small butter lumps. Beat together the egg, water, and
vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to the flour mixture, stirring
with fork, until just incorporated. (Mixture
will look shaggy.) Turn out
mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently
with the heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough
together. Form the dough
into a rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic for at least an hour (can be
chilled up to 6 hours).
Make filling: Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Heat 1
tablespoon olive oil in a 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until
hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning over once, about 6 minutes
total, and transfer to a plate. Sautee
onions, garlic, and bay leaf in fat remaining in skillet, stirring frequently,
until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add sausage and paprika and cook,
stirring, 1 minute. Add
olives, wine, raisins, and broth/water and bring to a boil, stirring and
scraping up any brown bits. Return
chicken to skillet along with any juices accumulated on plate, then reduce heat
to moderately low and simmer chicken, covered, turning over once, until tender,
25 - 30 minutes total.
Transfer chicken to a clean
plate. (Sauce in the
skillet should be the consistency of heavy cream; if not, briskly simmer until
slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.) When
chicken is cool enough to handle, discard skin and bones and coarsely chop
meat. Stir chicken into
sauce and discard bay leaf. Season
with salt and pepper, then cool filling, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
Form empanadas: Put oven racks in
upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough about 1/8th inch thick, and using a 4 ½ inch
circular cookie cutter, cut out the rounds of dough. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling
onto the center of the dough and fold in half. Press the edges to seal, and then
crimp with the tines of a fork to make a decorative edge. (I usually cut out several rounds and
then stuff.) Continue until
you run out of filling or run out of dough. Arrange the empanadas on a parchment
lined baking sheet. (At
this point you can freeze some of the empanadas if you don't want to use them
all up - make sure you freeze on a baking sheet and then can transfer to a zip
lock bag.)
Bake until golden brown, about 25
minutes. Transfer empanadas
to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes. Serve
warm or at room temperature with hot sauce.
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