Plate 07 of 10

Empanadas Criollas

Name: Empanadas Criollas
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 16 empanadas, about 120 g each
Cuisine: Uruguay
Ingredients: 600 g Unbleached plain flour, about 11 percent protein, sifted; 120 g Refined beef tallow (grasa de pella) or pork lard, melted to about 50 °C; 12 g Fine sea salt; 260 ml Warm water, about 45 °C, for the salmuera brine; 700 g Beef shoulder clod, top round or sirloin, hand-cut into 5 mm dice; 700 g White onions, minced into 5 mm dice; 45 ml Rendered beef fat or sunflower oil; 15 g Sweet Spanish paprika; 5 g Ground cumin, freshly toasted; 3 g Dried oregano, hand-crushed; 2 g Ají molido, crushed red pepper; 10 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Freshly cracked black pepper; 80 ml Beef bone broth or water; 4 large Hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped into 8 mm dice; 80 g Green manzanilla olives, pitted and roughly chopped; 60 g Scallions, dark green parts only, sliced into thin rings; 1 large Egg beaten with 15 ml milk

Strictly savoury, no raisins. Beef cut by hand into 5 mm dice, cooked in tallow with a mountain of sweet onion, paprika and cumin, chilled overnight, then folded into a warm lard-and-brine dough, sealed with a rope repulgue and baked hot until the seams blister.

Prep: 50 min
Cook: 20 min
Serves: 16 empanadas, about 120 g each
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Golden baked empanadas with braided rope edges on a board, one broken open to show a filling of diced beef, onion, green olive and chopped egg.

Empanadas in Uruguay have a distinct character. Unlike the sweeter Chilean version with its raisins, the Uruguayan criolla is strictly savoury: beef cut by hand into small dice, cooked in tallow with sweet white onion, garlic, paprika and toasted cumin, then finished with brined green olives, chopped boiled egg and scallion greens.

The dough is flour, warm salt brine and refined beef lard, rolled thin, stuffed cold, sealed with a tight rope-braided seam, and baked in a blazing oven until the crust blisters.

Ingredients

Dough
600 gUnbleached plain flour, about 11 percent protein, sifted
120 gRefined beef tallow (grasa de pella) or pork lard, melted to about 50 °C
12 gFine sea salt
260 mlWarm water, about 45 °C, for the salmuera brine
Filling
700 gBeef shoulder clod, top round or sirloin, hand-cut into 5 mm dice
700 gWhite onions, minced into 5 mm dice
45 mlRendered beef fat or sunflower oil
15 gSweet Spanish paprika
5 gGround cumin, freshly toasted
3 gDried oregano, hand-crushed
2 gAjí molido, crushed red pepper
10 gFine sea salt
3 gFreshly cracked black pepper
80 mlBeef bone broth or water
4 largeHard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped into 8 mm dice
80 gGreen manzanilla olives, pitted and roughly chopped
60 gScallions, dark green parts only, sliced into thin rings
Glaze
1 largeEgg beaten with 15 ml milk

Knife-cut beef

A grinder crushes the muscle fibres and releases water and myoglobin that puddle into a soupy filling. Hand-diced beef keeps its juices inside each cube until it is bitten.

Warm fat, short dough

Pouring 50 °C fat into the flour coats the gluten proteins and limits their development. The result is an extensible dough that rolls thin without snapping back.

Twelve hours in the fridge

Chilling the cooked filling overnight solidifies the tallow and natural gelatin. In a 230 °C oven that cold fat melts into broth inside a sealed envelope that steams within and crisps without.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the warm brine in the dough, seasoned beef and brined olives. Fat is beef lard in the pastry and tallow in the filling. Acid is the green olives and a spoon of chimichurri at the table. Heat is toasted cumin, paprika, oregano and ají molido. Umami is caramelised knife-cut beef, reduced stock and chopped egg.

Equipment

Heavy Dutch oven, for the filling
Shallow tray, for chilling the filling
Rolling pin
Two half-sheet pans lined with parchment
Pizza stone or baking steel, if you have one

The bakery version comes out of a wood-fired brick oven at 240 °C with strong heat from the stone floor. At home, preheat a pizza stone or steel on the middle rack for 45 minutes and set the sheet pan directly on it for a crisp base.

Method

Cook the filling, day one45 min
Melt the beef fat in a Dutch oven over high heat. Sear the diced beef in two batches, 5 minutes each, until browned. Add the cumin, paprika, oregano, ají molido, salt and pepper, then stir in the minced onions. Turn to low, cover, and sweat 25 to 30 minutes until the onions are completely soft and sweet.
Pour in the stock to dissolve the fond and simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Off the heat, fold in the scallion greens, olives and chopped eggs. Spread on a shallow tray, cool, and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours until cold and firm.
Heat beef fat on high; brown diced beef in two 5-minute batches. Add cumin, paprika, oregano, ají, salt, pepper and onions. Cover on low 25–30 minutes until onions soften. Add stock, scrape fond and simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Off heat, fold in scallions, olives and eggs; spread shallow, cool and refrigerate 12–24 hours until firm.
Make the salmuera and the dough, day two15 min
Dissolve the salt in the warm water. Mound the flour on the bench with a wide well, pour in the warm melted fat, and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it feels like warm sand. Pour in the brine gradually and knead 8 to 10 minutes to a smooth, pliable, warm dough. Wrap and rest at room temperature 45 minutes.
Dissolve salt in 45 °C water. Rub 50 °C melted fat into flour until sandy; gradually add brine and knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and pliable. Wrap and rest at room temperature 45 minutes.
Portion and roll the discs15 min
Divide the dough into 16 balls of about 60 g and shape each smooth. On a lightly floured surface roll each from the centre out into a 13 to 14 cm circle about 2 mm thick. Keep the discs under a damp towel.
Divide into 16 smooth balls, about 60 g. On a lightly floured surface, roll centre-out into circles 13–14 cm wide and 2 mm thick. Keep covered with a damp towel.
Fill and seal with the rope repulgue20 min
Set 60 g of cold, firm filling in the centre of a disc. Moisten the top half of the edge with a drop of water, fold the bottom half over to a half-moon, and press firmly to push out trapped air.
Starting at one corner, fold a 1 cm triangle of dough inward and press, then continue folding overlapping pleats tightly along the curve to build a rigid rope braid.
Place 60 g cold, firm filling in each disc. Moisten half the rim, fold into a half-moon and firmly expel air. Starting at one corner, fold overlapping 1 cm triangles inward along the curve, pressing tightly into a rope seal.
Vent, glaze and bake20 min
Heat the oven to 230 °C. Set the empanadas on the lined sheets 3 cm apart, prick one pinhole in each top with a toothpick, and brush with the egg glaze. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway, until the crust is golden-chestnut and blistered. Rest 5 minutes on a rack.
Heat oven to 230 °C. Space empanadas 3 cm apart on lined sheets; prick each top once and brush with egg glaze. Bake 18–20 minutes, rotating halfway, until chestnut-gold and blistered. Rest on a rack 5 minutes.
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Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a glistening golden-chestnut crust with blistered, rigid rope seams and no raw dough at the borders.
- Auditory: a dry crackle when tapped; a faint hiss of steam from the pinhole.
- Olfactory: roasted beef-lard pastry, toasted cumin, sweet stewed onion and seared beef.
Look for glossy chestnut-gold pastry, rigid blistered crimping and no raw dough at the edges. Expect a dry crackle and faint vent steam, with toasted beef-fat pastry, cumin, onion and beef aromas.

Storing it

Freeze unbaked empanadas solid on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen at 210 °C for 25 minutes, glazing just before they go in.

Troubleshooting

Torn, leaking bottoms.: Warm filling melted the lard in the raw pastry. Chill the filling until firm.
Seams burst and juices spill.: The repulgue was crimped loosely. Fold the pleats tightly with firm downward pressure.
Pale, leathery crust.: The oven was under 200 °C and dried the pastry before it browned. Bake hot, at 230 °C.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Beef lard	Leaf pork lard, or unsalted butter at 82 percent fat	One-to-one. Pork lard flakes the same; butter adds dairy aroma
Sweet Spanish paprika	Hungarian sweet paprika	One-to-one. Same colour and sweet dried-pepper flavour
Manzanilla olives	Castelvetrano or pitted green salad olives	One-to-one. Chop coarsely

Scaling

Half, for 8

Halve everything. Bake time stays 18 to 20 minutes at 230 °C.

Double, for 32

Double the ingredients, cook the filling in two pans, and bake on separate racks rotating halfway.

What to serve it with

Chimichurri criollo spooned into the filling after the first bite
A cold young Tannat, or clericó, the white-wine fruit punch
Serve warm and warn guests that the juices inside are very hot

Questions

Why no raisins?

Unlike Chilean and northern Argentine empanadas, the Uruguayan criolla is strictly savoury: green olives and scallion, never sweet fruit.

Can I use minced beef?

Coarse 80/20 mince works, but hand-cut beef gives the texture that defines Río de la Plata cooking.

Can I freeze them?

Yes, unbaked. Freeze solid on a tray, bag them, and bake from frozen at 210 °C for 25 minutes.