Empanadas

Dough

• plain flour500 g
• lard100 g
• warm water200 ml
• salt2 tsp

Filling

• minced beef500 g
• onions3
• spring onions4
• lard2 tbsp
• ground cumin2 tsp
• sweet paprika2 tsp
• chilli flakes½ tsp
• beef stock100 ml
• green olives100 g
• eggs3
• salt
• black pepper

To glaze

• eggs1

Filling

1. 01

   Finely chop the onions. Melt the 2 tablespoons of lard in a wide pan over medium heat and cook the onions with a good pinch of salt for 12 to 15 minutes, until soft, sweet and barely coloured. There is more onion here than looks right; it is meant to be roughly equal to the meat.

2. 02

   Stir in the cumin, paprika and chilli flakes and fry for 1 minute until the fat turns red.

3. 03

   Add the minced beef, break it up and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until it has lost its raw colour. Pour in the stock and simmer for 5 minutes until the pan is juicy but not wet. Season firmly with salt and freshly ground pepper: it will taste blander once it is cold and wrapped in pastry.

4. 04

   While the filling cools, boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool them in cold water, then peel and chop.

5. 05

   Spread the filling on a tray, cool it completely and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight. Only then stone the olives if needed, halve them and finely slice the spring onions, and fold them through with the chopped egg.

Dough

6. 06

   Melt the 100 g of lard for the dough. Stir the salt into the flour, pour in the melted lard and rub it through with your fingers until the flour looks like damp sand.

7. 07

   Add the warm water and bring it together into a shaggy dough, then knead for 4 to 5 minutes on the worktop until smooth. It should feel firm and slightly waxy, not springy like bread dough.

8. 08

   Wrap it and rest it for 30 minutes at room temperature so it rolls out without pulling back.

Assembly

9. 09

   Heat the oven to 200°C. Roll the dough out to 2 to 3 mm and cut twelve discs of about 13 cm, re-rolling the offcuts once.

10. 10

    Put a heaped tablespoon of cold filling slightly off-centre on each disc, making sure every one gets an olive half and some egg. Brush the far edge with water, fold over into a half moon and press out the air as you seal.

11. 11

    Make the repulgue: starting at one corner, pinch a small section of the sealed edge between thumb and finger and fold it back over itself at an angle, then repeat along the curve so the folds overlap like a rope. Press each fold firmly. If the filling is cold and the seal is dry, the edge holds.

12. 12

    Sit the empanadas on lined trays. Beat the last egg, brush them with it and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until deep golden and blistered. Rest for 5 minutes before eating; the filling is molten straight from the oven.