Beef Empanadas

One of my favorite things to get at Mexican restaurants is empanadas.  They are so yummy, especially when you top them with fresh guacamole and sour cream!  My favorite ones are from a Mexican restaurant in Oshkosh so I searched and searched online looking for a similar style but came up endless.  Here is my attempt at creating them without a recipe.

Beef Empanadas

Source: Me!

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten

1 c. frozen peas

1 c. frozen carrots

Roll out the two sheets of thawed puff pastry with a rolling pin until the sheet has not quite doubled in size.  Either cut 8 10" circles out of the dough, or cut each sheet into 4 squares.  Traditional empanadas are a circle and then when cooked are a half circle, but to make life easier and not waste any dough, I just cut mine into squares.  They taste the same!

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until soft.  Add the ground beef and cook until browned, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Add the peas and carrots until cooked.

Spoon the beef and vegetable mix into each puff pastry circle or square.  Fold the dough in half and be sure to pinch shut on all sides.  Brush each empanada with a beaten egg.  Cook on a baking sheet at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the dough becomes golden brown.

I will admit, these were no where near as good as my favorite ones from the restaurant.  The dough was thicker/puffier but the insides tasted just the same!!!  I'm starting to think that the restaurant ones might be deep fried.