Ingredients:
-1 pack of 10 Goya Empanada "Discos", thawed
-1 10oz bag Morning Star Farms Grillers Crumbles (or brand of choice)
-1/2 medium onion, chopped
-2 cloves chopped garlic
-1 packet Sason Accent or Goya, with culantro and annatto
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp oregano
-1 8oz can tomato sauce
-1 15oz can chick peas/garbanzos
-approximately 10 manzanilla olives, sliced (or salad olives)
-1/4 cup IBERIA or Goya recaito
-Light Adobo, to taste
-Cheese of choice (I used Colby Jack), or none, if you are vegan
1. Sautee onion and reacaito in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil or coat pan with spray on med/hi until onions are transluscent. then add the garlic and stir for about another 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the crumbles, chickpeas and olives. Add seasonings while stirring. Sauté for about 3 minutes and add the tomato sauce. Lower heat to med/low and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Set aside to cool down a bit.
Now comes the assembly.
Use a rolling pin to expand the discs a bit. The directions did not call for using flour, but I found it helpful to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. I then turned the disc over, so that the floured side would fry on the outside of the empanada and not become part of the filling.
I used cheese slices, 1/2 per empanada, and 2 spoonfuls of filling.
-Add filling to the center of the disc and fold over to make a half circle.
-Use a fork to press/seal the edges.
Before frying, I preheated the oven to 200 degrees to keep the empanadas warm while I cooked.
I layered them on paper towels to absorb excess grease.
Fry until golden brown, following package directions. Mine only needed about a minute and a half on each side.
Que rico!
Buen provecho.
