Vegan Empanadas

I am loving my Sunday cooking ritual. While I do cook during the week, on Sundays I can cook to cook, not just cook to eat, you know? Anyways, this last Saturday was my friend's birthday, so Sunday I was feeling particularly hungover and angry at Monday for being tomorrow. I almost backed out on Sunday dinner, but then I thought better of it. So I made these empanadas, and I'm so glad I did, because they were delicious! My friends and I shared a wonderful meal and I was reminded once again of some of the joys of cooking: feeding my friends and curing my hangover.

I made this recipe vegan for my roommate, but I am sure you can substitute the vegan shortening for regular shortening or butter. You might have to experiment a bit with it to get the dough right. Also, the recipes for the different fillings below make quite a lot of filling. If you want to use all of the filling in empanadas, make two batches of the empanada dough. I used the leftover filling for lunch the next day.

Vegan Empanadas

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegan shortening
1/2 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift or whisk flour and salt together. Cut shortening into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter. Incorporate water and knead. The dough should be pretty dry. Form into a small disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Once dough has rested, flour your working surface and rolling pin and roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out circles using a floured cookie cutter or rim of a bowl. You should be able to get about 8 pretty large circles out of the dough. Spoon filling of your choice into each empanada, making sure not to overstuff the empanadas. Brush a bit of water around the edges of each empanada, fold in half, and use a fork to seal around the edges. Brush a bit of butter to achieve a nice browning, if you'd like. Bake on a cookie sheet for about 35 minutes, until empanada crust is cooked through and golden brown.

Eggplant Filling

1 medium sized eggplant, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh, with their juices
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add diced onion and let cook until onion is translucent. Season with a dash of salt. Add eggplant and cook until tender, about 8 minutes, then add garam masala and mix well. Add diced tomatoes and their juices, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let simmer until most of the juices have reduced and the eggplant is very soft. Season with pepper and a bit more salt.

Potato and Broccoli Filling

2 yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
shredded monterey jack cheese

Bring a medium sized pot of water to boil. Salt water, add potatoes, and boil until just cooked through, but not falling apart. Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add broccoli to pan and saute, letting the broccoli brown a bit, until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked potatoes and toss with broccoli. After spooning this filling into the empanadas, add a sprinkling of cheese before sealing.

Black Bean Filling

1 can black beans
1/2 yellow onion
2 bell peppers (I used one red, one green)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add diced onion and let cook until onion is translucent. Season with a dash of salt. Add peppers and cook until tender. Add beans and red pepper flakes, cooking until beans are heated through. Season with pepper and a bit more salt to taste.

Apple Filling

3 baking apples, such as golden delicious or granny smith, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup butter or Earth Balance vegan spread
1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Melt butter in a small pot or skillet over medium-low heat. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice, and toss to coat. Let simmer until apples are cooked through and slightly mushy.