Dough Recipe for Empanadas

La Dough Empanadas Peruvian It is a preparation that is too simple, easy and cheap to make, which you will only have ready in a matter of minutes, as long as the materials to be used are fresh and of quality.

Likewise, this recipe does not have any great secrets, but if you must know the measurements well and knead with care to get them to fit.

Dough Recipe for Empanadas

Ingredients

• 1 kilo of unprepared flour
• 1 egg
• 100 g sugar
• 500 gr of vegetable shortening
• 300 ml of warm water
• 1 tbsp. of baking powder
• 1 tbsp. of salt

Materials or utensils

• A cup
• fridge or refrigerator
• Film paper

Preparation

The first thing to do is place the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and form a kind of volcano.

Then, in the center is placed the egg, sugar, salt and butter. With the hand integrate all the ingredients until obtaining a grit-type mixed flour.

Then add the water little by little. until a workable dough is formed and of good consistency to knead.

Next, place the dough on a table and knead lightly with the help of the flour. If you find it too hard, you can add a touch of water to make it more manageable.

Lastly, cover it with plastic wrap and take it to the refrigerator for an hour or more depending on your preference.

Tips and recommendations

• If you don't have plastic wrap you can wrap the dough with clean kitchen towels.
• It is necessary to take the dough to the refrigerator so that the empanadas that are going to be prepared are crispier and crispier.
• To prevent the dough from puffing up when it is fried or put in the oven can be pierced with a fork.
• If the people who are going to consume the dough are not vegetarian, you can add lard to give greater flavor and consistency to the dough.
• Although in this recipe we have used XNUMX% wheat flour, a very popular trick to get a crispy and juicy dough is Use equal parts wheat and corn flour.
• Once the dough is ready, remove small portions to stretch and form the tops or circles of the empanadas.
• Note that the filling must be well drained before placing it on the dough, otherwise we will have a very oily pie.

Benefits of Empanada Dough for the body

Maintaining a balanced and healthy diet is fundamental, not only to show off a figure, but to add health and energy to the body.

A varied and complete diet prevents or at least reduces the risk of suffering from certain alterations or diseases such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular pathologies, eating behavior disorders and even contributes to reducing the appearance of cancer.

For this reason, here are some beneficial tips so that the healthy variant of the empanada dough be the right one for you and your body:

• When preparing meat pies, use lean, finely chopped cuts. Another option is to sear the meat with a knife, removing visible fat.
• If the empanadas are chicken, select the breast that contains very little fat and, as part of the filling, it includes onion, green, there bell pepper and tomato, since these provide vitamins A and C.
• Use spinach for the filling, which can be sautéed beforehand so that they lose their rigidity and preserve their nutritional value.
• Aggregate cheese or ricotta to the dough to give it a supply of calcium and phosphorus.
• Choose to use the white instead of the whole egg, since it will help you compact the dough and will not provide fat or cholesterol.
• Integrate the dough flax, sesame and chia seeds to achieve a more varied supply of essential nutrients.  

Fun facts

• The origin of the empanada goes back to the customs of fill bread with food and vegetables that shepherds and travelers brought to eat in the fields. Over time, cooked dough began to be used together with the bread with its filling and later other doughs were made from other flours to properly wrap the filling.
• It is believed that the empanadas that we enjoy today have their origin in Galicia, Spain. Since the idea of ​​wrapping a resistant filling in a puff pastry may come from the Moors who occupied Spain for hundreds of years.
• The first empanadas in the Western Hemisphere are attributed to Argentina. In the United States, the empanada even has a holiday: National Empanada Day, which is celebrated on April 8 of each year.
• Pies are a traditional christmas treat en New Mexico. In the Southwest and South they are known as criollas and in the Southeast as fried empanadas.