FRIED CHEESE EMPANADAS/ empanadas de viento

These crispy fried cheese empanadas traditionally served with sugar are delightful but i also like to serve them with aji criollo (Ecuadorian hot sauce)

Makes 15 medium

Ingredients

Dough

3 cups flour

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

110g butter or lard

1 cup cold water (approx)

Cheese filling

2 ½ cups grated cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere etc)

1 medium onion, finely diced

Cracked pepper

Oil for frying

Sugar for serving (optional but traditional)

Method

Begin by making the dough in the food processor (or by hand). Add the flour, salt and baking powder, pulse to mix.

Add the cold, diced butter and continue to pulse until breadcrumb consistency forms.

Slowly add ½ cup cold water whilst the machine is running, continue adding water until dough starts to form.  Turn off and tip the dough out onto a lightly floured bench.

Knead gently so the dough comes together. Place into lightly grease bowl, cover and rest at room temperature for at least an hour.

To make the filling - mix the cheese and onion together, add a few grinds of pepper and set aside until required.

To make the empanadas you can either roll out the dough into a thin layer and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate). Or you can make several 45g balls of dough, then use a tortilla press or a rolling pin to roll them out – they don’t need to be perfectly round. It's really important to get the discs very thin since they cook very quickly when you fry them, if after cutting out the round shapes or pressing them with a tortilla press, they are still thick, try rolling each disc a little more until it is very thin, (these discs can be frozen).

Spoon the cheese filling on the center of the each empanada disc.

Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges, first pressing gently with your fingers, next use a fork to press down and seal, finally twist and fold the edges of the empanadas and then use the fork again for the final sealing.

Chill the empanadas for at least an hour, this will help them seal better and prevent leaks.

Fry the empanadas either in a deep fryer or in a frying pan, if using a frying pan add enough oil to cover at least half of the empanada, let the oil get very hot and fry each empanada until they are golden on each side or about a minute per side.

Place the empanadas on paper towels to drain any excess oil, sprinkle generously with sugar and serve warm.