Pork Picadillo Empanadas

So it's been several months since I first tried to make homemade empanadas. My first attempt turned out pretty good but I wanted to try it again with more spice. I found a picadillo recipe on Rick Bayless's site, which always makes for a great place to start. It's a mixture of ground pork, tomatoes, and spices, to which I added black beans and shredded cheese. Yum!

I started with my empanada dough recipe. It can take 1-2 hours to make the dough so be sure to start this before working on the filling. I've read that some people just use refrigerated pie crust but I prefer the buttery flaky goodness so I make it from scratch.

Filling:

• 28 oz fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 2 chipotle chiles with adobo sauce
• 8 oz black beans
• salt
• 6 oz shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
• 1 egg
• sour cream, salsa, or guacamole (optional)

Create the filling:
1. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor until smooth, set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the pork and mix well; cook for 7-10 minutes until browned, stirring frequently.
3. Add the spices, tomato puree, vinegar, chipotles, and beans to the pork. Mix well and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until it is reduced to a thick paste and almost all the liquid is evaporated, about 30-45 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

It smells much better than it looks!

4. Transfer the filling to a bowl and refridgerate for at least an hour to cool. (I put it in a glass bowl and put it in the freezer for a half hour and that worked, too).

Assemble the Empanadas:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with non-stick spray.
2. Place a dough round on a floured board. Measure 1/3 cup of the pork filling and spoon it in the center of the dough. Cover it with 1/2 oz shredded cheese.

3. Brush the edges of the dough with water and fold the dough over the filling. Press the edges together and crimp with a fork.

4. Repeat with the other 11 empanadas. Carefully place 6 empanadas on each baking sheet. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a little bit of water. Brush the tops of each of the empanadas with the egg wash.

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole.

Serves: 6 (2 each)
WW: 4 pts for the filling + 7 for the dough (not including optional toppings)