By Julie
My husband often asks me to cook novel appetizing things or try a
version of something he has enjoyed in the past. This frequently includes
Diana’s recipes but this time, it was a classical Spanish dish the Galician
mother of his friend used to cook for the family in Venezuela, an “empanada
gallega” or Galician empanada. I must say, I shied away from it for a long
time, thinking this would be way too laborious but it turned out that the
actual active working time is very little, it can be prepared in advance and it
can feed a lot of people, so it is ideal for when you invite a bunch of friends
and don’t want to spend time cooking when they are already there.
There are probably as many versions of this empanada as there are
grandmothers in Galicia and typically it contains seafood but in my version
today, you will find chicken. Any combination with fish or meat is fine and if
you are in a hurry, you will be excused for using canned tuna instead.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Ingredients
Yield: serves 4
For the dough:
500 g wheat flour
100 ml olive oil
200 ml lukewarm water
pinch of saffron
2 Tsp hot water
25 g fresh yeast (or the equivalent of dry yeast in sachets)
1 tsp salt
+1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon of milk (to brush the surface)
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| © Diana Chaccour |
For the filling:
3 bell peppers of different colours
600 g chicken breast filet
3 tomatoes
3 onions
5 garlic cloves
juice of 1 lemon
salt, black pepper, red pepper
150 gblack olives, pitted
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Preparation method
Start by pouring the hot water over your saffron in a small cup.
This is necessary to release flavour and colour from the saffron.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Now dissolve
the yeast in the 200 ml of lukewarm water and add all of the ingredients for
the dough. Knead thoroughly for about 5 minutes, shape it into a ball and let
it rest for at least 30 minutes in a bowl covered with a kitchen towel. Due to
the high oil content, the dough will not rise as much as you are used to from
other yeast doughs, so don’t worry.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
In the meantime, chop onions, garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers into
small cubes.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Dice the chicken breasts. Sauté the chicken in a hot pan with some
olive oil and set aside.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
In the same pan, prepare the “sofrito” - fry onions
and garlic until transparent, add peppers, lemon juice and tomatoes and stir at
medium heat for about 5 minutes. Incorporate the ground peppers and the salt. This will be your sauce for the filling. You
can then add the chicken pieces and continue cooking the sauce for another 15
minutes. In the end, it should reach a consistency close to spaghetti sauce.
Add water if you need to or let it simmer for a little more. Finally, add the olives, cut in halves.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Punch the air out of the dough and knead for 2 minutes with oiled
hands. Split the dough 50-50 and roll out one half on a surface dusted with
flour until it reaches about 2 mm in thickness, you want it very thin or your
empanada gets undesirably doughy in the end. Carefully lay the dough into a
baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread the filling evenly. Roll out the
second half and carefully lay it on top. Pierce it several times with a fork.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Now brush the surface with the eggwash. If you have any dough leftovers, get creative with the rim or make some decorative shapes to finish it off (cookie cutters are also an idea). Brush the surface once more with the eggwash.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Now bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden
brown.
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| © Diana Chaccour |
Enjoy!
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| © Diana Chaccour |
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