Cheese and shrimps empanadas

For 6 to 8 persons,
About 2 hours cooking included

For this classic central and south American delicacy, you will need:

Ingredients for the dough:

• 4 cups of flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup cold water
• 2 egg yolks with 2 tablespoon water

Ingredients for the filling:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 pound raw medium shrimp (about 15), peeled and cut into pieces.
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Jalapeños slices en escabeche (to your liking)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup of grated Swiss cheese
• 1 cup of low moisture mozzarella cut in cubes.

Special tool required: Empanada press

Making the dough:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking powder, and the salt.

Throw in the little cubes of cold butter and mix with your fingers, crushing the cubes of butter into the flour mix until the mixture is crumbly.

Add just enough cold water so that the dough comes together.

Preparing the filling:

• Chop the onion, the garlic, the parsley and the jalapeños slices.
• Heat the pan with the olive oil, and place the chopped ingredients inside, mix until soft and translucide than add the cut shrimps to the mix and cook until the shrimps start to get pink.
• Set the melange aside and let it cool down.
• Add the grated cheese and the mozzarella cubes, the salt, the pepper and the cayenne pepper.

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Preparing the empanadas:

• At this point preheat your oven at a temperature of 400 degrees
• Roll the dough until it about 1/8 of an inch thick.
• Cut circles in the dough with he bottom of the empanada press, you can re use the rest of the dough, put the rest together, knead and roll it flat again. ( the dough will become more and more elastic)

• Once you have all your dough disks, place them onto the press, one by one. (They may have retracted a bit, so you may need to use the roller to make them a little larger)
• Once you have adjusted the dough to the press, brush some egg yolk and water mix all around the dough, at the place where it is going to seal.
• place about 2 tbsp of shrimp mix in the middle and seal strongly.
• Open the press and move the empanada onto an oven tray with baking paper.

• brush you empanadas top part with the mixture of egg yolk and water and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Buen provecho! Bon appetit!