Paleo Beef & Chorizo Empanadas

By Mangia Paleo February 3, 2014 Recipes 2 Comments

If you are like me you’ve eaten in one too many greasy Mexican restaurants. I love it, but I hate it. My weakness for Latin/Spanish based foods has only gotten stronger since paleo. The cravings must be tamed! So, these paleo empanadas are the closest I can come to a guilt free version of the real thing. Lucky, the filling is the easy part to make paleo. Meat and spices? APPROVED.

The dough is the hard part. Hence the breakage in the above photo. I’m not going to lie to you it’s definitely not the fried crispy goodness that is an authentic empanada, but it’s delicious nonetheless. And it won’t make your insides feel like they want to escape your body.

The empanada dough recipe is from Paleo Cupboard

THE DOUGH – From paleocupboard.com

2 cups almond flour + more for dusting

1/2 tsp. arrowroot powder

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 eggs, whisked

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions: Combine flour, arrowroot powder, and sea salt with a fork. Mix in whisked eggs and olive oil. Shape into a large ball, cover in plastic wrap, and set in fridge for 30 minutes.

Once chilled all the way through cut into balls a bit smaller than a tennis ball. Flatten or roll out on parchment paper. DO THIS RIGHT BEFORE THE FILLING IS COMPLETE.

* If the dough gets too warm from sitting out or handling it with your hot palms (Yeah I’m talking to you, Captain Hot Palms) the dough will crack. See last photo below for epic fail.

THE FILLING

1 medium red onion

2 garlic cloves

12 oz ground beef

3 links chorizo, casing removed

2 hard boiled eggs

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp cilantro

2 tbsp tomato paste

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

PREP: Chop onions, garlic, herbs, and hard boiled egg. Set aside. Remove the casing from the chorizo and crumble it. Set aside.

Heat a cast-iron skillet with olive oil on medium high heat. Add garlic and onions. Once the onions start to sweat, add the crumbled chorizo and ground beef. Once the meat is cooked, add the chopped eggs.

*Don’t try to spoon the fat out from the meat. Stop it. Don’t touch. Leave it in there. It’s freaking delicious. And you’ll need it to help the tomato paste bind all the ingredients.

Add tomato paste, cumin, paprika, and sea salt & pepper to taste. Combine well. Cook another 5 minutes.

After rolling out the empanada dough (See dough instructions above) place two spoonfuls of the filling on one side of the flattened dough. Fold over and pinch with a fork. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt.