Cheese Empanadas with Melting Mozzarella and Fontina
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
Crimped, golden baked empanadas filled with molten mozzarella and fontina, soft onion, tender potato and a hint of chilli.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
Unlock all flavours with Premium
This flavour is part of Premium. You can see the ingredients and nutrition; the quantities and the full method are for members.
Premium: $4.99/month or $39.99/year.
Equipment
- food processor
- small frying pan
- small saucepan
- sieve
- rolling pin
- 12 cm round cutter or saucer
- 2 baking trays
- baking paper
- pastry brush
- wire rack
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 495 kcal |
| Protein | 17.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 44.5 g |
| of which sugars | 1.9 g |
| of which free sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 27.5 g |
| of which saturates | 15.6 g |
| Fibre | 2.2 g |
| Salt | 1.32 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
3.5 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
Metric · 6 servings
Pastry
- 300 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
- 3 g fine sea salt or table salt about ½ tsp
- 90 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg
- 90 ml ice-cold water, plus 1-2 tbsp if needed
Glaze
- 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water, for glazing
Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, cut into 5 mm dice about 150 g
- 1 small potato, peeled and cut into 5 mm dice about 100 g
- 150 g low-moisture mozzarella, cut into 5 mm cubes
- 100 g fontina, coarsely grated
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1
Dough. Blitz the flour, salt and chilled butter in short bursts in a food processor until sandy. With the egg and water whisked together, add them and pulse a few times more, just until the dough holds when squeezed; a spoonful or two of extra water helps only if it is crumbly. Shape it into a disc, wrap and give it at least 30 minutes in the fridge, which makes rolling much easier.
- 2
Onion. Cook the onion in the oil in a small frying pan over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes, until soft and translucent but not browned. Slow cooking makes it sweet and mellow.
- 3
Potato. Cook the potato in a small pan of boiling unsalted water for 3-4 minutes, until just tender, then drain well. Dry potato will not make the filling wet.
- 4
Mix. Once the onion and potato are cool, mix them with both cheeses and the chilli flakes. Cool vegetables stop the cheese melting before it is wrapped.
- 5
Heat. Get the oven heating to 200 °C (180 °C fan) and cover 2 baking trays with paper.
- 6
Shape. Dust the worktop with flour and roll the pastry to 2-3 mm, then cut 12 cm discs, rerolling the offcuts once to get 12. Heap about 2 tbsp of the cheese mixture on half of each disc, dampen the border, and fold the other half across. Squeeze out the air, pinch the edges shut and finish with a rope-style pleat or fork marks; any gap lets molten cheese escape.
- 7
Bake. Set the empanadas on the trays, brush with the egg glaze and bake for 18-22 minutes, swapping the trays halfway, until golden. Rest for 5 minutes so the cheese is molten but not scalding, then serve.
Storage
Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat at 180 °C for 8-10 minutes, until hot through. Freeze unbaked for up to 2 months and bake from frozen, adding 5 minutes. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
