Pumpkin Curry Empanadas

Uploaded: Sep 30, 2016

We haven’t done a recipe in awhile and it’s time. I'm hungry! If you are looking for something special, this recipe takes effort and has a few steps, but for Food Partiers! who like to cook, it’s a yummy addition for all the seasonal. Pre-make and freeze raw, then bake the day of the party.

I made this a few years ago at CUESA’s free Saturday cooking demonstrations. We’ll be back teaching Saturday, October 22, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM. Please join us, or remember the Ferry Building Farmers Market for a fun place to take out of town guests, or to shop for unique, dare I say (holiday…shhhh) gifts.

Pumpkin Curry Empanadas
- Makes 20

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pumpkin or kabocha squash
1 small onion, diced small
1/2 teaspoon each ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon
1 teaspoon each ground cumin and turmeric
1/4 cup currants, softened in hot water

Easiest Pie Dough or 3 sheets frozen store-bought pie dough
1 egg, beaten
Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Preheat oven to 375°.

Get out your cleaver and have some fun!

Peel off skin and cube pumpkin till you have about 4 cups.

Put pumpkin in a bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon oil and dash of salt. Mix with your hands, coating all sides. Place on sheet pan and roast, uncovered, till tender, approximately 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a large saute pan. Add onion, cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in spices and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Transfer onion to a medium mixing bowl. Drain currants and add. Add pumpkin and mix, mashing with a pastry cutter to create a slightly chunky mixture.

Working with one pie-dough disk at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8-in.-thick round. Using a 4-in. ring cutter, cut out 20 circles, re-rolling scraps.

Whisk 1 tablespoon water into egg and brush onto dough rounds. Spoon 1 tablespoon pumpkin into center of each round, fold, and seal edges with tines of a fork. Brush the outside with egg wash.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat (permanent parchment). Arrange empanadas on sheets, spaced slightly apart. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with Cilantro Chutney.

Easy Pie Dough
3 cups all purpose white flour (For gluten free option: substitute Cup 4 Cup)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup cold, cubed unsalted butter

Whirl together flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse into pea-size pieces. Drizzle 2/3’rds cup very cold water over crumbs and pulse just until moistened.

Turn dough onto a work surface and gather into a ball, turning to combine any dry crumbs.

Divide dough in half, form each into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill one hour

Cilantro Dipping Sauce
3-4 cloves garlic
1 one-inch piece of ginger
½ cup fresh mint, leaves and stems removed
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems removed
1-2 serrano peppers, seeds and vein removed
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Add ingredients to food processor and pulse to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste.

- Revised from an ol’ Sunset recipe.

- Photos by Christine Krieg Photography

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