Football Empanadas Recipe
- Prep Time: 1 Hour
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 Hour + 30 Minutes
- Yield: 18 Small Footballs
Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 10 Tbsp. Crisco®️ All-Vegetable Shortening, very cold
- 1 egg
- 8-10 Tbsp. milk
Filling:
- 2 Tbsp. Crisco®️ Pure Vegetable Oil ¼ onion, small diced
- ½ red bell pepper, small diced
- ½ green bell pepper, small diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cooked, chopped chicken
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 Package Ortega Taco Seasoning
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. water
- Ortega Taco Sauce for dipping
Directions
Dough:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
- Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in the shortening until you have a coarse meal.
- Whisk the egg with ¼ cup of the milk.
- Add the egg mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and toss with a fork or spatula to moisten the flour mixture.
- Add the remaining milk, one tablespoon at a time, and toss the dough until you have a dough that will hold together into a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a long rectangle.
- Trifold the dough, like a business letter, and then roll out to a rectangle again.
- Trifold one more time and roll out to a square about ½-inch thick.
- Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to two days.
Filling:
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over med-high heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the onion and peppers and sauté for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the chicken, broth, tomato paste, and Taco Seasoning. Stir to combine.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before filling dough. Filling may be made in advance and refrigerated.
Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Roll out dough to roughly 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
- Use a 2×3.5-inch football shaped cookie cutter to cut out 36 footballs, rerolling the dough as needed.
- Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of half the footballs.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the dough all around the filling.
- Place another cut out on top of the filled one and use a fork to crimp and seal the edges.
- Repeat with all the cut outs.
- Use remaining egg wash to brush the tops of all the empanadas.
- Place them on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Serve with Ortega Taco Sauce of choice for dipping
