Goya Pre-packaged Dough: An Easy Way to Make Meat Patties or Empanadas

When I was at the grocery store after work one day I was searching the freezer for easy ideas for dinner. I didn't want the meal to be completely frozen like the ready-to-eat frozen pasta dinners where all you have to do is heat and eat. I wanted to add to something I had at home. This was on a Wednesday and I already had leftovers from two nights ago in the fridge. Thinking of what I had at home I thought of the idea of creating homemade patties without making the dough myself. Already in my basket was an easy mix for pie crust. My idea was to combine leftovers to make a new meal. When I stumbled across the ethnic section of frozen products most of the things I saw I was unfamiliar with but I still looked in the freezer case. I picked up a package of Goya Tampas para Empanadas (Criollas Tipo Caseras) which translates to "dough for turnover pastries" with the intent to see how it worked for traditional style Jamaican meat patties or Spanish meat Empanadas.

When I got home I looked on www.allrecipes.com at first for a recipe. I didn't like the recipes they had because the ingredients included raisins, hard boiled eggs and vinegar. I searched Google for the sample and came up with a couple of choices. I looked at the first result for www.aboutfood.com that had a dough recipe and then a separate filling recipe. I used ground turkey that we had and combined it with boiled diced potatoes, dice onions and garlic. I seasoned it with cumin and oregano and a little salt and pepper. The recipe called for a couple of teaspoons of olive oil also. I used the olive oil to brown and soften the onions and garlic and to heat up the turkey meat mixture while the cut potatoes were cooking in a saucepan.

Once the potatoes were done, I mixed it together with the meat and added a little more seasoning. I let it cool for a little bit and found while I was mixing that the potatoes were a bit overdone. I would not boil them for as long next time because they were actually a little mushy. Once the mixture cooled, I filled the dough wraps with about a tablespoon and a half of filling. I folded it in half and sealed it by crimping the edges with a fork. I had just enough wraps (12) for my mixture. We don't fry too often in our household. I filled a large, deep saucepan with about three-fourths a cup of vegetable oil, just enough for the empanadas to cook. If the grease is very hot, it will take less than a minute to cook and therefore will be less greasy so make sure it's hot before you put them in the oil or they'll be extremely greasy. Take the empanadas out of the oil using tongs and let the oil drip off. Place them on a plate that is lined with a paper towel to take off more oil.

The end result was a great, crispy homemade version of classic appetizer type meat patties or empanadas. They were small and light so I don't recommend them as an entrée but as a combo meal with vegetables or a salad.

Nutritional Content

Serving size for three pieces uncooked are 300 calories (100 calories each), sodium 610mg, 36g carbohydrates and one gram each for sugar and protein.

The Goya brand is very popular and can probably be found in most grocery freezers. We live in a city that is populated with a number of nationalities so we're exposed to several food options. If you're daring enough to try something different, look in the international aisle and you can find a world of dinner entrée choices.