Empanada

Learn how to make the authentic Tucumán empanada like our Champions!

Juicy and with an unparalleled flavor, the empanada consists of a round dough folded in half and sealed with a fold (folded into a square). Our national ambassador's filling contains knife-cut matambre, onion, hard-boiled egg, and spring onion. It is best cooked in a clay oven, although it can also be baked in a gas oven or fried in fat. One of the most widespread myths about this delicacy is that it has 13 folds (shaped into squares) for the twelve apostles and Jesus at the Last Supper.

Tucumán empanada recipe (approximately 3 dozens)

Ingredients

1 kg matambre

200 g white onion

100 g spring onion

6 hard-boiled eggs

1 kg flour

200 g beef fat

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt to taste

Optional: chili

500 cc cooking broth

Preparing the Filling

Boil the matambre for 2 hours with salt. Let it cool and dice it finely.

Chop the white onions.

Place a saucepan with oil and a tablespoon of fat on the stovetop. Add the onion and sauté.

Add a cup of broth, the ground beef, cumin, paprika, and salt.

Add the hard-boiled eggs and the spring onion.

Remove from heat and let it cool.

Preparing the Dough

Make a flour ring, add the fat, and combine with a cup of the broth from which the matambre was boiled.

Mix until you have a soft dough.

Cut small pieces and make small balls with them. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to form discs.

Assembly and Baking

Fill the discs with the dough.

Close with 13 pleats.

Place in a baking dish and bake in a clay oven for 15 minutes or in a conventional oven at 180°C for 20 minutes.