June 22, 2021

CHICKEN PESTO EMPANADAS

Sunday nights at my house are for food delivery. Most of the time after a week of making up the menu, cooking and above all cleaning the kitchen, the weekend comes and I do not feel like cooking anything. But, I also don’t feel like leaving my house on sunday afternoons. So, delivery it is. Without realizing it, we found ourselves eating the same thing every sunday. Empanadas.

This has always been a food I loved. Wether they are baked or fried. Plus, with small variations, you can make it so much healthier. Great right? These empanadas have a super easy dough and you can have them ready to eat in about an hour. What I like to do is make the entire recipe, fill them and freeze them. This way, I have a quick and healthy dinner for any night of the week in just a couple of minutes. That is great for those days when you do not feel like cooking at all. Turn on the oven or air fryer, place them in and done!

TIPS FOR PERFECT EMPANADAS:

Air fryer or oven?: Let me start by saying I normally don’t like frying food because the kitchen gets so dirty in the process. It takes more time to clean the mess than the actual cooking. So, between the oven and the air fryer there is no big difference in flavor. The air fryer cooks them so much quicker and the dough comes out a bit crispier than the oven. It all depends on what you prefer or have in the kitchen. I put specific times for each one in the recipe card.

Closing them: As you can see in the pictures, my closing is not the most perfect ever. You want the filling to stay inside, so just make sure it is closed. Use a fork to make tiny lines closing it, fold it, whatever you can do. You want it to bee good, the more you practice the better they will look.

The filling: The filling for the empanadas is a creamy mixture with pulled chicken and pesto. You can use the chicken left over from another meal or just cook and pull apart chicken specifically for this recipe. The pesto is added at the very end so the flavor is there, I promise.

Pesto: If you want to, you can make pesto from scratch. Pesto is not a hard recipe to make and it takes literally two minutes. For this recipe, I used store bought pesto. I also added a bit of extra olive oil to make it smoother and done.

EQUIPMENT:

Bowls: A large bowl for the dough. you can use the bowl of your stand mixer as well. The dough has to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can place bowl directly in.

Chopping board: You will use it to cut up the chicken, vegetables and everything else that needs to be chopped or cut.

Baking pan: Or dish. You will use it to bake the empanadas.

Stand mixer: If you have one at home with the dough hook, use it. You can just leave it there to mix by itself. If not, you can do it by hand, I promise it doesn’t take much time or effort.

Pan: You will use this to make the sauce for the filling and just finish cooking everything in there.

Spoon or silicone spatula: to stir and mix everything fro the filling. Always anything that you feel comfortable cooking with.

Measures: Cup and tablespoon measures for the dough and the filling.

Rolling pin: To roll out the dough.

Silicone brush: To paint the empanadas with the egg wash before baking.

Yield: 10 Empanadas

CHICKEN PESTO EMPANADAS

Ingredients

DOUGH

250 gr flour
125 gr butter
100 ml cold water
1 Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Egg yolk (for the egg wash)

FILLING

1 Complete chicken breast
1 Cup whole milk
2 tsp cornstarch
2 large tbsp pesto
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Medium white onion
2 tbsp Cream cheese
3 to 5 mozzarella slices
1 tbsp butter

Instructions

Add all the ingredients for the dough to a bowl.
Mix until everything comes together. Knead until smooth.
Place the dough back in the bowl and cover before placing in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
For the filling, cook the chicken with salt and pepper.
Pull the chicken appart and save for later.
Chop the onion into small squares.
Add a spoon of butter to the pan and place over medium heat.
Once melted, add onions. Cook until they start to look a bit transparent.
Add milk and cornstarch. Cook until it start to thicken.
As soon as it begins to thicken, add chicken, pesto, salt and pepper. Keep stirring until completely creamy and mixed.
Add cream cheese and mozzarella. Turn the heat off and cover.
When it ready to use, stir a bit to make sure the cheese goes everywhere.
Separate the dough into 10 same sized balls. One by one, roll it out, add some filling and close the empanadas.
Add a spash of milk to the egg yolk, mix and use it to paint all the mepanadas before placing in the oven.
Oven time: 30 minutes. Airfryer time: 6 to 7 minutes at 400F