Thursday, May 29, 2008

Empanadas- so good they get their own song!

I've never had an empanada before but after making them last night, the recipe from Vcon has made me realize the error of my ways. Instead of 12 regular-sized ones, I made 24 mini empanadas just because I think it's cute :) I was a little nervous about making these since my dad was putting a lot of pressure on me! Once he found out that I was making empanadas this week he made sure to remind me everyday that (and I quote) "these better not suck 'cause I'm looking forward to some empanadas!" He even started singing his "Empanada Song" (basically him just singing the word "empanada" to any random tune in his head- haha.)
















The filling from the recipe sounded delicious, but I wasn't sure if my siblings and father would really like it, so I only made half of the filling from th book for twelve empanadas and filled the other twelve with half a package of sauteed Soyrizo (I've never tried this product before since I tend to not eat any fake meats, but this is good!).
The empanada on the left is one with the Soyrizo filling and the one on the right is stuffed with the Vcon Acorn Squash and Black Bean filling. I really can't decide which one I like better. The Soyrizo is nice and spicy and has a really "authentic" texture and flavor, while the squash filling is refreshing yet comforting and has the perfect combination of sweet and salty! And even though I thought my family would like the Soyrizo filling more, they thought it was a tie as well! My mom thought they were so great that she begged to take some to work with her today to share with some of the other women there (they loved them, by the way)! Hm......maybe my family is slowly beginning to prefer meatless dishes...? Well, maybe that's a little extreme for now, but I'm working on it! Oh, one last note about this recipe- the crust is AMAZING! With every bite, the flaky and crunchiness blew my mind. Wow.... too bad all 24 of these have already disappeared. Guess I'll just have to make them again really soon!

8 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I've never had empanadas before either - my oh my, do those look delish!! I need to try them, for sure!! Haha, so glad that they even inspired a song! :0)

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Ooh, I've been meaning to make those for ages! Good to know they're tasty. Mmm, soyrizo! One of my only mock meat loves.

bazu said...

I've always wanted to try empanadas- I've never had homemade ones! Yours look so yummy.

Oh, to answer your question on my blog, when I cook pizza at home I usually do pre-steam the broccoli a little bit so it's softer and gives off less water as it bakes on the pizza. I do this with mushrooms too- results? Less soggy pizza!

Kati said...

These look great - I've been meaning to try that recipe out and now I definitely will!

Thanks for visiting my blog, by the way. You may not know this, but I lived in Chicago for a year before just recently moving back to NY. Love that Chicago Diner...and Karyn's Cooked!

J said...

I love empanadas! They are amazing and your little ones are so cute!

I made empanadas for the first time awhile back and wondered why I hadn't done it before!

Acorn squash and black bean empanada filling?! I really need to get my copy of Vcon back out!

That's so awesome your family loved them!

Rural Vegan said...

I've never made my own empanadas before either, it's quite an intimidating task! Yours turned out perfectly though, and it sounds like they were amazing. Feel free to send some to me!

Anonymous said...

Mm, looks good! I like how they're minis too; You can eat many more without feeling guilty!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Your empanadas look amazing!! Soooo glad your family enjoyed them. I made some recently with a different filling, and should try the soyrizo in them sometime. I think your family sounds like they are definitely coming around to ore meatless dishes, that's awesome!