Spicy Pork Empanaditas w/Chunky Avocado Relish

By stancec44

From Hors d'oeuvres book, pg. 182-183.

Assemble Empanaditas one day in advance. Cover & refrigerate. Bake Empanaditas up to 8 hours in advance. Keep at room temp. Make relish up to 3 hours in advance. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Dough was too thick & they were a bit dry. Would just do a guacamole relish. (NYE 2018)

Ingredients

• For the dough:
• Filling
• 1 Tbsp. veggie or sunflower oil
• 1/2 med. onion, finely chopped
• 12 oz ground pork
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 red or jalapeño chili, seeded & finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1/2 c. tomato juice
• 1 tsp. tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. raisins
• 10 pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
• S&P
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. warm water
• 1 lg. egg, beaten
• For the Relish
• 1/2 med. onion, finely chopped
• 2 red or jalapeño chilies seed and finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes peeled, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro leaves
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 med. avocados, peeled & pitted
• salt

Details

Servings 20

Preparation

Step 1

Filling:
Heat the oil in a frying pan over med. heat. Stir fry onions in oil until soft, 5-6 minutes.

Add the pork. Stir pork constantly with fork to break up any lumps, until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add garlic & chiles and cook until fragrant, 3 minutes. Add spices, tomato juice, tomato puree, raisins & olives.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, 15 minutes. Cool. Add salt & pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, 30 minutes.

For the dough:
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with fingers until mix resembles fine crumbs. Use a fork to stir in the water to make a firm dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 3 minutes. Warp dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temp for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough to a 1/8" (2 mm) thickness). Cut out 20 rounds with a 2 3/4" (7 cm) plain cookie cutter. Place one tsp. filling in center of each round.

Fold dough over filling to make crescents. Pinch edges firmly together to seal. With fingertips, seal edges. Place empanaditas on greased baking sheets. Brush with beaten egg. Bake until crisp & golden, 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For relish:
Combine onion, chile, tomato, garlic, cilantro and lime juice. Cut the avocados into cubes (1"). Mash the avocado into the onion mixture while combining with the other ingredients.

Serve empanaditas warm or at room temp with relish for dipping.