Easy Mushroom Empanadas

It's nice when you can make something special and different for dinner that's also very easy. And it's also nice to have a meatless meal on occasion. An empanada is a pastry that can be savory or sweet, contain meat like chicken or beef, or be purely vegetarian, or be used as a desert like plantain empanadas. More specifically, an empanada is a circle of pastry that is folded over and crimped along the seam to hold the filling in place. Then it is fried for a couple of minutes and served warm, or cold if you prefer. You can use a recipe, like this one, or invent your own fillings. Even children can help to make them. To make it even easier, use packaged pie crust pastry from your grocery store.

Since I love mushrooms, and I'm vegetarian, I like this savory recipe.

Ingredients:

Three tablespoons of butter or butter substitute
One onion, diced
One clove garlic, chopped finely
One pound mushrooms, white, oyster or whatever you like, chopped
One teaspoon salt
Half teaspoon black pepper
One or two tablespoons of chili sauce or taco sauce
Packaged uncooked pie crust pastry (top and bottom layer)
Grated cheese, ie, Monterey jack, pepper jack
Vegetable oil for frying

First, sauté the onions in the butter until they are slightly brown. Don't overcook. Next, mix in the garlic for about a minute. Add in the mushrooms and cook until they are softened. Add in the salt and pepper to taste and the chili or taco sauce. Once everything is cooked and mixed through, take off the heat and allow to cool while you prepare the pastry.

Take the pastry, one layer at a time so it doesn't dry out, and unroll onto a cutting board. Since the pie crust pastry is already rolled nice and thin, all you need to do it cut out the circles. For appetizer size empanadas, cut small circles by using a juice glass and placing a very small amount of filling, maybe a tablespoonful. For larger, meal size empanadas, use a bowl, cereal or soup bowls work well. Cut out as many circles as you can from each layer of pastry.

Next, take the filling and place enough on one side of the pastry to fill the empanada without it squeezing out when you fold it in half. Sprinkle a little grated cheese over the filling. Too much filling will leak out and not allow you to crimp the seam closed.

So, with the filling inside, spread it out so it goes almost to the ends, leaving about a quarter of an inch of pastry all around. Then fold the empty half of the pastry over the filling and with your fingers, fold the edges of the pastry together and squeeze them closed. Your empanadas should be plump, but not overfilled.

The last step is to carefully place the empanada in hot oil and fry it until the pastry turns a light brown. You may have to flip the empanada over once to assure even cooking. Take out the empanada and drain on paper towels. That's it. You can garnish the empanadas with salsa, chutney, or sour cream or for desert empanadas, powdered sugar. Enjoy and experiment with the ingredients to find different flavors.