Cheese empanadas with Tomato Jam
Ingredients
For the dough
3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
½ a teaspoon of Kosher salt
6 Oz of Cold unsalted butter
1 egg
For the Filling
1/3 of a cup of milk
2/3 of a cup of shredded Gruyere cheese
2/3 of a cup of queso Fresco
2/3 of a cup of shredded low moisture Mozzarella cheese
½ a cup of Jammy Yummy’s tomato jam
METHOD
For the homemade empanada dough:
Combine the flour and the salt in a food processor.
Add the butter, eggs, and the milk (a little bit at a time), pulse and combine up until little soft dough balls start to form.
Take the dough out of the food processor, and form the dough into a ball.
If you do not have a food processor, the dough can be made by hand. Follow the same instructions to incorporate all the ingredients together using your hands. Make sure that all the ingredients come together well to form a soft dough. More milk can be added if the dough seems dry.
Separate the soft ball in to two flat disks. The dough can be used immediately, or it can be made before hand and put in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Extend the dough using a rolling pin until a thin thickness is achieved. Use a cookie cutter, or a bowl to cut round disks (this recipe is using 6 inch disks, but you can make them any size you want). You can also form the empanada disks by making little balls and flattening them out individually, or with a tortilla press.
The dough disk can also be used immediately or they can be refrigerated, or frozen for later use.
To assemble and bake the empanadas
Mix the 3 cheeses together
On each empanada place around two tablespoons of the cheese mixture, and about ½ a tablespoon of Jammy Yummy’s tomato jam right in the middle of the dough disk.
Bring the edges together at the top, and close by either folding the edges in or using a fork to achieve a tight seal.
For the empanadas to seal well while assembling, we recommend brushing a bit of egg white on the rim to act as a sort of glue. It is also important when making cheese empanadas to let them rest after forming in the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking so they don’t open in the oven. For the empanadas to achieve that desirable golden crust color we also recommend brushing a little bit of egg yolk on the empanadas right before putting them in the oven.
For baking the empanadas, pre-heat the oven between 375F to 400F(190c to 205C), depending on your oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the empanadas get nice and golden. Keep in mind that bake time varies depending on the size of the empanadas, and that the smaller the empanadas the less time they will take to cook.
