This recipe for shrimp and cheese empanadas is made with a delicious filling of tender seasoned shrimp, Manchego cheese and a rich Spanish-style tomato sauce.
Feel free to change this recipe with various flavored tomato sauces, using different cheese blends, as if you were making a Mexican four-cheese blend.
Ingredients
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour and a little more for kneading
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 220 grams or 8 ounces tomato paste
- ½ white onion, finely chopped
- ½ green pepper, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½ ripe tomato, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 300 grams of medium raw shrimp, cleaned and deveined
- 2 cups (220 grams) of grated Manchego cheese
- Oil for frying
- Black pepper to taste
Preparation
- To make the batter, add water, egg, egg white and vinegar in a medium bowl. In another large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour and salt.
- Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Then make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together with your hands until the dough stiffens, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth. Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add the tomato sauce, green pepper, garlic, tomato, olive oil and onion, stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Place shrimp in the pan with the tomato sauce mixture. Add cheese, stir well and cook shrimp until shrimp turn pink, 3 to 5 minutes maximum. Remove from heat and let cool.
- To make the shrimp and Manchego cheese empanadas, roll the dough on a floured surface until 1/8-inch thick. (Approximately 0.3 centimeters).
- Cut the dough into circles with a 6-inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, spoon the shrimp filling by the tablespoonful into the center of the circles.
- Fold the dough over the filling in a half-circle shape and crimp the edges with a fork. If the edges don’t stay sealed, you can dip the fork in water before folding or use an egg wash.
- Heat enough oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat until sizzling, fry each filled empanada for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips
- Never leave the dough in the refrigerator for more than 24 hours. If you want to keep it longer than that, you can freeze it.
- Instead of frying the empanadas you can bake them in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.
- To make large empanadas use 6 inch cutters, for smaller ones use 3 inch cutters.
- Don’t overfill your shrimp and cheese empanadas. They will burst and you will lose the filling in the oil.
