For Empanada Dough
- 370g all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 170g unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 80g ice water
- 1 additional egg, beaten (egg wash only)
Hibiscus Filling
- 20g raw thick bacon, diced
- 65g brown onion, minced
- 275g butternut squash, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 75g queso fresco, diced
- 30g dried hibiscus flowers, chopped
- 60g adobo sauce from canned chipotle
- 22g currants
- 1 tsp salt
- Pinch of pepper
Method
- Boil 2 cups of water. Add 30g of dried hibiscus flowers and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and steep for 2 hours.
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until caramelized. Remove bacon. Discard all but 1 tbsp of bacon grease and add the onion to the pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook onion for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Add butternut squash and poblano to the pan and cook for 10 minutes until tender. Stir occasionally so it browns on all sides.
- Keep the steeping liquid to the side and add the hydrated and chopped hibiscus flowers, currants, salt, and pepper to the butternut squash. Mix to combine. Add adobo sauce and a generous drizzle of the hibiscus water. Mix to combine and remove from heat.
- Once the mixture has cooled a bit, add crumbled queso and bacon. Set aside while you make the dough.
- To prepare the dough, place the flour and salt in the bowl of a Stand Mixer fitted with a Pastry Beater. Turn on speed 1 for 10 seconds just to mix.
- Add the cubed butter and mix on speed 2 for one minute.
- In a small bowl, mix the egg and ice water. Add to the flour mixture. Mix on speed 2 until the liquid is incorporated into the dough (it will look sandy and/or shaggy), about 1 minute or less. If it looks too dry, you can add 1 additional tbsp (14g) of water.
- Place a 60cm piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Dump the dough onto the surface and briefly knead into a ball. Flatten the dough into a rectangle.
- Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
- Dust a surface and a rolling pin with flour. Take each ball and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into approximately 15cm rounds. Use more flour as needed for sticking.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Lay them on a parchment-lined sheet tray and cover tightly with plastic wrap while you work.
- To assemble the empanadas, preheat the oven to 400°C.
- Place approximately 2 heaped Tbsp. (40g) of filling in the center of each dough round. Fold the dough over and press gently to seal.
- Press and crimp or use the tines of a fork to press and seal the empanada edges. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Brush empanadas with the beaten egg. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
