Chilean pine empanadas

Chilean empanadas de pino have a curious name, don't you think? Pine is the name of the traditional filling of onion, beef, olives, egg and raisins, which apparently comes from the Mapuche word pirru and has nothing to do with the tree.

In addition to the typical pine-leaf filling , Chilean empanadas are distinguished by their particular sealing. In this article we have used the Chilean method, but also the easier method with the empanada press that can save us time and, let's be honest... we are going to devour them anyway.

In this tasty recipe we make all the components from scratch: from the famous pine for the filling to the delicious empanada dough. For that we have all the ad hoc utensils and a legendary skill .

Tellier dumpling press

Ingredients

For the pine filling:

• 1 kg beef, knife-cut, not minced
• 1 large onion
• ½ tsp. sweet paprika
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp cumin
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp. flour
• ½ cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 20 black olives
• 1 good handful of raisins
• 2 hard-boiled eggs

For the empanada dough:

• 120 ml of milk
• 120 ml of water
• 2 tsp. salt
• 500 g of soft flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 80 g of lard
• 1 egg to paint the empanadas

Elaboration

1. First, prepare the pine: heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the chopped onion over high heat until it just begins to soften. Add the chopped meat until it browns.
2. Add the spices and mix, frying them just enough so that the paprika doesn't become bitter.
3. Then add the flour and fry to remove the raw taste. Add the water, salt and cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
4. We add the olives and raisins.
5. We taste the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Let it cool.
6. To make the dough, put all the ingredients, including the softened butter, into a food processor and set it to knead (with the kneading hook if using the KitchenAid or with the dough program if using the Magimix Cook Expert ).
7. When the dough is well cohesive, we take it out of the robot, wrap it in plastic and let it rest for at least 1 hour, so that the gluten relaxes and stretches well.
8. To form the Chilean empanadas we divide the dough into 50-55 g portions for the medium press (in relation to the Tellier empanada molds ), into 85-90 g portions for the large press, or we can stretch the entire dough and cut the round wafers into the size we want, as is traditionally done in Spain and we did in this recipe .
9. We fill each empanada with a good spoonful of pino and a small piece of hard-boiled egg.
10. To make the traditional Chilean closure, we paint the edge of the empanadas with a little water, we close them trying to get all the air out, we stick the edge together and then we fold it as seen in the photos (bottom empanadas on the tray).
11. To seal the empanada with the empanada press, place the empanada inside the mold, wet the edge as well and seal it, pressing gently.
12. We place the empanadas on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
13. Once we have them all, we paint them with the beaten egg and put the dish in the oven. We cook them for about 30-35 minutes at 180° , until they are golden brown.

Press for empanadasTellier and knives Pallarès Solsona

These Chilean empanadas are so-de-li-ciously spicy. Or maybe I'm just addicted to cumin. Plus, they have the advantage of being almost as good cold as they are freshly made. Be careful with that bikini operation.