Empanada gallega del chef Gallego
On a trip to Galicia I was lucky enough to meet and cook with one of the best chefs in the region, Antonio Amenedo. He taught me how to cook the best empanada that I have ever tried, dough included from scratch, which I am sharing with you as it is so easy to make. The base for the filling is always the same and then is up to you what would you like to include on it, traditionally they only add one ingredient to keep it simple and taste it properly, things like fresh anchovies, boiled egg, scallops, tinned tuna, octopus and as well meat.
INGREDIENTS
500g plain flour
100ml white wine
100ml whole milk
100ml olive oil (from frying the filling)
1 tsp salt
FILLING3 red peppers
2 Spanish onion
150ml olive oil
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Start by making the filling as we will need the leftover oil to make the dough. In a pot over medium heat pour the olive oil and add the bay leaf, peppers, onion and season with salt and pepper. Fry the ingredients for about 10 minutes and bring down the heat to low and continue to cook it for a further 30 minutes so they become very soft and bring out their natural sweetness. Strain the oil from the fried vegetables while still hot on top of the bowl for your dough, so it warms up.
To make the dough start by putting the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle, add the milk, wine and pouring the hot oil as described in the previous point. Start by mixing it with the help of a spoon, integrating the flour slowly until it becomes more comfortable to use your hand to bring it all together.
Start kneading it and place it over the worktop to make your life easier. Knead for not longer than 5 minutes. Form a ball and cover it with a cloth or cling film for 2 hours.
Lay some baking paper over an oven tray. Sprinkle some flour over your rolling pin and worktop, remove your dough ball from the bowl and sprinkle a bit more flour over it. Flatten it with your hands first and with the help of the rolling pin work your way around it until you have a rectangle of about 3mm in thickness. Place half that rectangle over the baking paper and the other half should lay over the top of the edge of the oven tray and your worktop. Pierce the tray half with a fork all over the surface.
Fill the half on the tray with the boiled egg, the tuna and the “fritada” as we call it and fold the other half of the dough directly over it. Pinch the sides to seal it, make a small hole in the middle so the steam can escape and bake in a preheated oven at 190 C fan assisted for 25 minutes. Remove the empanada from your oven, brush it with a beaten egg. Turn the heat up to 200, bring it back into the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes until dark brown. Enjoy!
