Empanada night: In honor of my recently booked trip to Argentina

Hooray! I am going to Argentina in March! I have made it my mission to plan fun and exciting things to do for the rest of winter. My first trip is to see my sister in Seattle!!!!! Four day weekend full of sisterly fun, restaurant, hopefully a fish market and most probably a little spa-like Seattle mist... here I come!! Seattle and my sister are my plan to get through February.
What am I doing in March you ask? Argentina! 7 days of meat, wine, and friends! In honor of my trip to Buenos Aires I thought it would be appropriate to make empanadas. What could be better than a little pocket full of goodness? This is not my first attempt and it will not be my last. I have yet to master actually closing the pouches, but practice makes perfect right?

I've made all different kinds, usually with whatever kind of ground meat I bought at the farmers' market that weekend. Pork, bison... all usually involve eggs and olives, sometimes potatoes. I thought I would go vegetarian this time.

Recipe:

3 small potatoes, cubed and boiled
2 shallots sauteed (I was lazy and didn't add these but they definitely would have added extra flavor)
3/4 cup peas
2 hard boiled eggs (chopped)
1/4 tsp curry powder
sald and pepper to taste
1 egg and water for an egg wash to make them nice and brown and shiny

Fill each empanada shell with a little more than a tablespoon of filling. Put the filling on one half of the shell. Brush a little water on the edges of the bottom half and fold the top half over. Once all the shells have been filled and folded brush each one with the egg wash. This will ensure the empanadas brown nicely and come out a little shiny.

Bake them for 30 minutes at 400 degrees and they are ready to eat! Enjoy!

It sounds like a fairly simple recipe and it is! Feel free to add whatever you want. My Argentine friend gave me a more authentic recipe. You can find it below:

Paula's empanada recipe:

- chop onion and sautee
- add ground beef to the onion and cook
- add salt and pepper
- boil an egg and then chop it into little pieces and add to the meat
- chop a few olives and add to the meat (they add a great salty taste!!!)

(quantities are up to you, depending on how many shells you have to fill... )