Beef Empanadas

By Lisa VanWilliams

These flaky stuffed pastries are fun for the whole family, and they are the perfect size for on the run munching. My brother's wife is from Paraguay and she has been making these for my family since I was a little girl. I eventually learned how to make them myself from her instructions so we would not have to pester her whenever we had a craving for these. These are pretty simple to make and you can bake them or fry them, and you can pretty much stuff them with whatever you like. I have tried chicken and peppers as well and they are equally delicious. They come in many variations depending on the region and country they come from.  For example, the Chilean beef version calls for black olives & raisins.

Empanadas are great to store in the fridge for a quick snack as they can easily be reheated....and they even taste better the next day. They are also great to serve at get together because you can make them in advance and just heat them up. The dough comes in packs of 10 and I usually end up making 20 because 10 is never enough once word gets out I've made some. They are in the frozen Goya section at my local market. Plus they sell super large boxes of these Goya discs at BJ's and you can freeze any dough you don't use for next time.

I know it's not Auntie Fee's Sweet treat, and I'm not as funny on video, but these rock. "Sometin fur the kids!!"

Ingredients:
2½ pounds ground beef
3 garlic cloves minced
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 small onions
8 hard boiled eggs
Worcestershire sauce (couple dashes)
salt & pepper
garlic powder dash
onion powder dash
Montreal Steak Seasoning dash
½ cup fresh parsley
20 Goya discos defrosted and soft


Directions:
Boil the eggs, cool, and peel them...set aside. In a pan add the garlic, onions, peppers and cook them down until soft. Then add in ground beef & seasonings and cook until meat is no longer pink. Toss in parsley and let the meat cool. Once cool, cut up the eggs over the top of the ground beef.

Take the disc and add a tablespoon or two of beef mixture, be sure not to over stuff them.

Close the disc down and seal it with a fork all the around the half moon.

I fried these up in vegetable oil until they turn a golden brown and then cool them on some paper towels. Enjoy!