Wheat empanadas are known throughout Spain, eternal participants in snacks and birthday parties, and great allies of the prepared food sections of supermarkets, because they last a long time at room temperature (and it is difficult for an empanada to go bad, even if it is very little). money you spend on its ingredients).
But there is an empanada that, for me, is a little above the wheat empanada, and it is not very famous outside of Galicia. I’m talking about corn empanada, one of the Spanish recipes that uses this wonderful cereal. Beyond those sweet and cloying cans, once cooked it is crunchy, full of flavor and has a beautiful color. In addition to corn, these empanadas have something even better: their fillings, typically sea mollusks. The one with cockles is a classic, but if you have just been paid you can fill it with scallops and give yourself to the good life with a glass of albariño on the side.
Notice to sailors: corn dough, although it contains a little wheat flour to make it more manageable, will not acquire as resistant a structure as a 100% wheat dough would, since corn does not generate gluten, which is the responsible for the elasticity of the masses. That is why when it comes to shaping it in the mold we will not be able to stretch it with a rolling pin, but we will have to go taking pieces, stretching them one by one, and go making a puzzle connecting them until we cover the entire mold. This can result in some cracks being made in the oven, but don’t worry: they are very characteristic of the aesthetics of these empanadas, and if you let it cool completely it will not fall apart when cut.
Time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: Have patience to form the empanada with pieces of dough
Ingredients
For 4-6 people
For the empanada dough
- 250 g of untreated cornmeal
- 100 g of strong wheat flour
- 250 ml of water
- 10 g fresh yeast
- 6g of salt
For the filling
- 1.5kg of shelled cockles (or 300g of any mollusc meat)
- A splash of white wine (optional)
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
Instructions
Submerge the cockles in salt water for two hours, changing the water halfway through so that they release any soil they may have.
For the dough, mix the corn flour, wheat flour and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the water and dilute the fresh yeast in it. Make a hole in the center of the flour, add the water, and incorporate little by little until a dough is formed. Knead with your hands for three to four minutes, until a smooth dough with a plasticine texture is formed. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover it, and let it rise for an hour at room temperature.
Drain the cockles well, then add them to a large preheated saucepan over medium-high heat. Add a splash of white wine, cover them, and let them open for a minute or so. Remove the cockles, reserve the cooking water, and then remove the meat from all of them and reserve it.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the onion, bell pepper, and minced garlic cloves, and fry for seven to eight minutes, until soft and lightly caramelized. Add 100 milliliters of the cooking water for the cockles. Cook it over medium-high heat until it has almost completely reduced, correcting the salt if necessary -the cockle cooking water is quite salty- and reserve the sauce in a bowl.
Line the bottom of the chosen mold with parchment paper and paint it with a little olive oil. Take some corn dough, stretch it with your hands or a rolling pin until it is thin and place it in the mold. Repeat with more pieces of corn dough, jigsawing and covering the entire bottom, pinching the connections between plates to adhere.
Once the bottom is covered, repeat the same process for the walls of the mold, pressing well on the connections with the base so that they are not too thick.
Cover the bottom with the sauce and then spread all the cockles on top. Cover the filling with more pieces of stretched dough, and then join the walls to the top with the help of a fork, pressing well so that they merge.
Make a hole in the center of the empanada and surround it with a churro of the dough. Brush the entire empanada with an egg mixed with a splash of water and then bake it at 200 degrees, heat only from below for 35 to 45 minutes, or until well browned on top.
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least two hours before unmolding and serving.
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