Upon my return from the Algarve, I’ve felt myself in a race against time. As the farms abound with my favorite ingredients — corn, zucchini, beets and tomatoes — I’m hustling to create as much as I can. Needless to say, my freezer is stuffed with farm fresh everything, from gazpacho and blueberry muffins to corn pancakes and empanadas. It’s a good thing I have three freezers! The weeks are flying, bringing me that mush closer to the end of summer.
If there’s ever the perfect pocket food (and I know I’ve been teaching and preaching this throughout the years) it’s the empanada. With a flaky dough which cooks to a golden perfection, it is the ideal vehicle to capture summer’s flavors. Whether you stuff them with golden and bicolor sweet corn, or a variety of farm fresh veggies like spinach, peppers and squash, with a little spice, you can wrap up summer.
I urge you to get creative with your fillings, but offer you this one for now since it was a hit with everyone in my family. You can either make the dough yourself or purchase a good quality wrapper from an Argentinian or Hispanic market. I found some recently at Stop and Shop. But you need to make sure you select the puff pastry version as the other wrappers are inferior and won’t crisp to perfection.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 12 empanadas | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 20 minutes |
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Nothing wraps up summer more tightly than an empanada. And these, stuffed with sweet summer corn explode with flavor! What's more, they can be made and frozen to enjoy many months afterwards when summer has long passed. If you would like to add more of a kick to the filling, simply add some chipotle chili seasoning and a few dashes of Cayenne pepper. To make them for the carnivores in your life, add some chopped and cooked bacon.
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- 4 cups fresh bi-color corn kernels cooked
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese fresh
- 4 ounces queso fresco cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped, fresh
- 1 cup onion diced finely
- 2 whole jalapeno peppers diced finely, seeds removed
- 1 tsp sea salt
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 tbs olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 1/4 tsp Chipotle pepper optional
- 12 pieces bacon cooked, chopped
- 30 empanada wrappers
- Puree 2 cups of the corn kernels with the fresh ricotta cheese, careful not to over process.
- Place mixture in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a small skillet, heat olive oil and saute the onions and jalapeno peppers for about 7 minutes.
- Add the cooked onions and peppers to the bowl with the corn and ricotta mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
- Place several wrappers onto the countertop and place 2-3 tablespoons of filling in the center of each. Using a fork, an empanada crimper or he rope method with your hands, fold the dough over and crimp the edges tightly so the wrapper is sealed.