Mexican Pumpkin Empanada Recipe, Whats Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

What are pumpkin empanadas made of? ›

Make filling: Mix together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and cloves in a large bowl until smooth. Roll each dough ball out on a floured surface into a thin, 6-inch circle. Spoon about 1/3 cup filling into the center of each dough circle.

Similar to an American turnover but far more versatile, an empanada is a fried or baked pastry shaped like a crescent moon. Once the bread has been made with flour dough or corn flour dough, it's then stuffed with myriad fillings depending on the occasion and your taste.

Empanadas have their origin in the Spanish action Empanar connoting “wrap in bread.” Traditional empanadas hence are simply beef stuffing wrapped in pastry dough. Beef empanadas are small palm-sized meat pockets. They resemble the Arabian Samosas and Italian calzones.

Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. The stuffing can consist of a variety of meats, vegetables, or even fruits. Empanadas have their origins in Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. They first appeared in Medieval Iberia during the time of the Moorish invasions.

Both cooking methods produce delicious empanadas. If you want a healthier merienda, bake them in the oven. If you're working with less time, frying them is the way to go. Try both and ask your loved ones to vote on their favorite.

While pie dough is designed to be flaky, empanada dough is meant to be more tender. Pastry for empanadas has a higher flour-to-fat ratio, making it sturdy and perfect for wrapping around meaty fillings. Some recipes use lard or an additional egg as the fat source, but our recipe keeps it simple and easy with butter.

Oil that is too cool will make your fried empanadas greasy and sad. I normally use canola oil for fried empanadas because it's flavorless and has a high smoke point. Lard tastes better, but you end up frying very close to lard's smoke point, which is tricky; when oil gets too hot it will taste acrid.

Just place them on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet.

In much the same way, putting fried food on a cooling rack means the excess oil will drip off, but there's enough air circulating underneath the food that the bottoms don't get soggy.

Empanadas are a rich source of proteins. They are a perfect combination of carbs and proteins, which makes them ideal for muscle gain and tissue repair. Empanadas are also a rich source of vitamins. They have a moderate amount of Vitamin B-6, which is essential for immunity and reducing stress.

When the Spanish hit the New World in the 16th century they shared their empanada recipe with the Aztecs and Maya. The Spanish recipe was made with bread dough, the Mexican recipe with corn masa dough. This is where Mexican empanada history takes over. Each region in Mexico has their own version of the empanada.

What is an empanada in Mexico? ›

An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Spain, other Southern European countries, Latin American countries, and the Philippines.

Argentina has become world-famous for their empanadas which are widely available in Buenos Aires and across the country as fast-food options and restaurant staples. As with many recipes, that of empanadas was shared through generations and carried to many other nations.

Although they are traditional throughout Latin America, Mexican empanadas are differentiated by their different varieties. Depending on the region, you can try fish and seafood empanadas, potatoes, meat, and sweet empanadas. This dish from Mexico, we know in the rest of the world as nachos.

noun. pasty [noun] a small pie made by wrapping pastry around meat, vegetables, or cheese and baking it. pie [noun] food baked in a covering of pastry. (Translation of empanada from the PASSWORD Spanish–English Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Puerto Rico has the eternal debate of what to call the pastelillo, empanada, empanadilla, pastel etc. “In the south of the island they call everything an empanadilla; while, in the center of the island and the north, they call it pastelillo.

Empanadas in Colombia most commonly use a ground-beef picadillo-type filling with potatoes and onions. In Venezuela, fresh farmers' cheeses are often stuffed inside, which makes a great snack or appetizer, but hungrier people should look to the pabellón filling.

Like the Venezuelan and Argentine empanada, the Colombian one has a half-moon shape. Its thickness is thinner, which helps make its texture crispier. They are also made with corn and some of the most popular are: Pipián: potato, hogao, egg, toasted peanuts and annatto.

Fill each round of dough with 2 tablespoons of beef, a slice of hard-boiled egg, 2 black olives and 4 raisins. Lightly brush the edges with milk, press firmly and fold. Make sure to release trapped air before closing. Brush the top of the empanadas with egg batter and water before putting them in the oven.