Grilled bullhorn pepper and corn empanadas with finger lime pebre

Empanadas are as beloved to South Americans as meat pies are to Aussies. Baked empanadas are good, but deep-fried is always better. Made with masa flour or plain flour, empandas are a versatile treat that can be filled with anything.

Grilled bullhorn pepper and corn empanadas with finger lime pebre Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  2

• prep

  50 minutes

• cook

  3 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

• 240 g plain flour
• 80 g self-raising flour
• 7 g salt
• 25 g butter
• ⅔ cup (160 ml) boiling water
• oil, for deep frying

Filling

• 2 green bullhorn peppers
• 2 cobs sweet corn, cooked
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 120 g gruyere, grated
• 65 g fontina, grated

Finger lime pebre

• 10 finger limes, pearls prepared
• 4 sprigs oregano, roughly chopped
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno chilli, deseeded, finely
• 1 tomato, blanched, deseeded, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper, to taste

Resting time: 10 minutes

Chilling/freezing time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. To make the empanada dough, sift the flours and salt into a large bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water, then add to the flour and mix with a spoon (careful, the dough is hot!) Knead until a smooth dough forms, then rest for 20 minutes. Roll into 3 mm sheet and cut out 10cm discs to fold later.
2. To make the filling, chargrill the bullhorn peppers and corn in a chargrill pan or over a hot flame, until blistered. Strip the kernels from the corn cobs and remove the skin and seeds from the roasted peppers and chop finely, then combine both in a small heavy-based saucepan. Add the cumin and cheeses. Warm over a moderate heat, stirring, until the cheese melts. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until needed.
3. To make the empanadas, lay the prepared discs on a baking sheet. Moisten the outer edge of each round with water. Put about 2 tbsp filling in the centre of each round, being careful not to get it on the wet edges. Wrap the dough around the filling to form the empanada, pressing the edges together. Pleat the edges, or crimp with a fork, if you like, then set aside until you are ready to cook.
4. Fill a large, heavy-based saucepan with enough oil to deep fry, and heat to 180˚C. Deep fry the empanadas for 3 minutes, or until golden brown and blistered. Repeat in batches until all empanadas are cooked, then transfer to a paper-towel lined tray to absorb any excess oil.
5. To make the finger lime pebre, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the bullhorn pepper and corn empanadas with the finger lime pebre on the side.

 

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Garden Grills

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Watch the full episode here

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