Interested in learning how to make the best Argentina empanada? Francis Mallmann’s protégé, Cristina Bruno at Finca Adalgisa shares her recipe!
From the deep-fried empanadas de jaiba stuffed with crabmeat and a dash of merkén pepper so typical along the southern coast of Chile, to the flaky pastry of the oven-baked empanada criolla of Uruguay filled with minced beef and olives, or the spicy chicken stew that graces the empanadas of Bolivia, known as salteñas: there’s a regional favourite in every corner of the continent. And I whole-heartedly recommend you try them all!
But if there’s one empanada that’s closer to my heart than the rest, it’s the mouth-watering empanada mendocina: cooked in an horno de barro (a clay oven). Filled with sliced steak, loads of onion and served with homemade chimichurri sauce — it’s a true classic in Argentine wine country and an art form in its own right.
There are few chefs in Mendoza who have taught quite as many people to make these classic empanadas as Francis Mallmann’s protégé, Cristina Bruno at Finca Adalgisa, whose private cooking classes sell out months in advance. And she has shared her closely-guarded recipe with us — one that has been years in the making with her family.
Empanada mendocina recipe
For 30 small empanadas
Dough
1 kg (2.2 lbs) flour
100 g (3.5 oz) beef fat
30 g (1oz) salt
500 ml (17 fl. oz) water
Filling
2 kg (5 lbs) sliced white onions
1 kg (2.2 lbs) diced steak
salt to taste
chilli flakes to taste
cumin to taste
100 g (3.5 oz) beef fat
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
30 green olives (pips removed)
Making the dough
Mix together the salt and water to make a brine. Place the flour in a bowl, making a hollow in the centre and pour in the melted fat/lard and brine. Mix well and knead until the dough is homogenous and can be easily formed into a ball. Let it rest for two hours.
Making the filling
Slice the onions thinly and then sauté in a pan with some beef fat (or oil or butter) until they become translucent. Add some chilli flakes and keep cooking (with enough fat to keep them moist) until they are lightly golden. Add the diced meat, mix it well and cook it until it just turns brown. Turn off the heat. Add cumin, more chilli flakes and salt to taste. Let the filling cool to room temperature.
Making & cooking the empanadas
Stretch out and roll the dough and cut it into disks of 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) in diameter and 3mm (0.1 in) thick. To make each empanada, place your disc of dough on the table, and put a couple of teaspoons of the beef mix in the centre of the disc. Place a green olive (remove the pit!) in each empanada, as well as a slice of chopped, hard-boiled egg. Close the empanadas using the repulgue technique, carefully folding over the empanada in half and tucking in the edges in a circular motion. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the horno de barro, or in a regular oven at a high temperature (350 ̊F / 176 ̊C / Gas Mark 4).
Serving empanadas
Empanadas are best served warm straight from the oven. You can serve them with your own homemade chimichurri sauce which usually has chopped parsley, garlic, oregano, cilantro/coriander, onion or red pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper and wine vinegar. Serve with plenty of Malbec!
Check out some of our other recipes featured in The South America Wine Guide
Recipe for Chilean ceviche
Recipe for Brazilian pao de queijo
Recipe for chimichurri
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