Destination
Buenos Aires
The story
Empanadas are the most portable meal in Argentina. Half-moon pastries of knife-cut beef, sweet onion, cumin, boiled egg and always, always one green olive, baked until the crust blisters. Sold everywhere from truck stops to tuck-shop bakeries to Michelin-starred asadores. Two dozen is the going rate for a small gathering; a single empanada is what you buy at the counter for the walk home.
Method
Skip if using shop-bought discs. In a large bowl, rub the lard into the flour and salt with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the warm water and mix to a shaggy dough. Turn out and knead 2 minutes until smooth. Wrap and rest at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Heat the tallow in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the white onion and a pinch of salt. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until softened but not coloured.
Turn the heat up. Add the diced beef and cook, stirring, until it releases its liquid and starts to catch. Add the paprika, cumin, chilli flakes if using, salt and pepper. Stir 30 seconds until aromatic.
Pour in the stock. Simmer 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced but the mixture is still glossy and moist (not dry). Off the heat, stir in the spring onions. Cool completely, ideally in the fridge for 30 minutes: cold filling holds its shape when you fold.
Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
Divide the dough into 12. Roll each into a thin 14cm round on a floured surface. If using shop-bought, warm them briefly on the counter so they're pliable.
Place a heaped tablespoon of cooled beef mixture in the centre of each disc, off-centre toward one side. Add a spoon of chopped egg and one olive on top. Don't overfill: too much will burst the pastry in the oven.
Brush the edge with a little water. Fold in half to form a half-moon and press to seal. Starting at one end, fold small pinches back onto the seam every 1cm, working around the curve. The classic repulgue is a twisted rope, but any tight crimp works as long as it seals.
Arrange on a lined baking tray with space between each. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, until deeply golden and blistered in places.
Rest 5 minutes: the filling is molten straight from the oven. Serve with chimichurri, salsa criolla, or nothing at all beyond a glass of Malbec.
Tips
- Hand-cut the beef, don't mince it. The whole point of an Argentine empanada is the texture. Diced beef gives each bite substance; minced meat gives you a burger stuffing.
- Cool the filling before assembly. Warm filling steams the pastry from the inside and gives you soggy, cracked shells. Fridge-cold filling folds cleanly.
- One olive per empanada, always. This isn't garnish. It's the small pop of salt and brine that cuts through the beef. Argentines will notice if it's missing.
- Use lard or tallow in the dough if you can. Butter is fine, but lard gives the flaky, slightly savoury shell that shop-bought Argentine discs have. No shame in buying the discs pre-made from a Latin grocer.
- For a mixed batch (beef, chicken, cheese), give each filling a different repulgue. Twisted rope for beef, crimped line for chicken, parallel pinches for cheese. Guests can then read the fold and pick their favourite.
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