Vanessa at The Cheerful Kitchen

Yields 16 Empanadas

Whole Wheat Vegetable Empanadas

Whole Wheat Vegetable Empanadas are a little indulgent and a whole lot of fun to make! This vegetarian meal is made up of pretty little packages packed with veggies and made with half whole wheat flour for a whole grain boost. 

1 hr, 30 Prep Time

25 minCook Time

1 hr, 55 Total Time

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Ingredients

For Dough
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour is fine too)
• 3/4 cups cold butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup-1 cup very cold water
For Filling
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 package mushrooms
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small yellow squash
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup whiskey or veg broth
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Olive oil for sauteing
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg

Instructions

TO MAKE THE DOUGH IN A FOOD PROCESSOR
• In the bowl of your food processor, add the flours, salt and cubed cold butter.
• Put the lid on and pulse your ingredients until the butter is in small pieces, about the size of a small pea, and the flour looks like damp sand.
• Then remove the pour spout cover on the lid of your food processor and turn the processor on. Slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup of very cold water just until the dough comes together in a ball. If the dough seems dry and crumbly still, add additional water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
• Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. Can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.
TO MAKE THE DOUGH IN A BOWL BY HAND
• Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk it together to combine well.
• Add the cold cubed butter and use a pastry cutter or two forks to work the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of small peas.
• Add 3/4 cup of cold water and start kneading with your hand until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too dry, add an additional 1 Tablespoon of cold water at a time until it is right.
• Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. Can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.
TO MAKE THE FILLING
• While your dough is chilling, dice up all your veggies into tiny pieces, keeping the onions and peppers separate from the other veggies, and mince the garlic. Heat a large skillet with 2 Tablespoon of olive or coconut oil over medium/high heat. Add your onions and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring around occasionally. Then add the rest of the veggies and garlic and saute for another 5 minutes, stirring again occasionally.
• After the 10 minutes of cooking your veggies, add the salt, pepper, oregano, apple cider vinegar, and whisky or broth. Stir and bring to a simmer. Turn your heat to low and simmer the veggies for 15-20 minutes, until all the liquid is gone.
• Set your veggies aside to cool down a bit.
ASSEMBLING YOUR EMPANADAS
• First make yourself a little assembly station by placing the bowl of cheese, the pan of filling, rolling pin and flour for dusting near your pastry board or the space on the counter where you will be rolling out your dough.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove your dough from the fridge, but it in half, and rewrap one of the halves to go back in the fridge while you work with the first half.
• Using a large knife or your bench scraper cut the halve of the dough your working with into 8 equal parts. Set them aside.
• Dust your work surface with flour and put one of the eight dough pieces on it. Dust the top of the dough with flour and roll out into a thin roughly round shape, about 4-5 inches across.
• Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling a little north of center on the rolled out dough, then put a large pinch of shredded cheese on top of the filling. Use your finger to wet the bottom edge of the dough with water, then carefully pull the top edge of the dough over the filling and down to the bottom edge, making sure none of the filling or cheese gets in the seal of the edges. Press down to make sure the edges stick together.
• Starting at the left corner, fold it in, then continue to grab and fold in the dough until you reach the other corner, making sure to press down each fold so it seals (See step by step picture above). Then fold in the other corner and press down.
• Alternately, you could just use a fork to seal the edges like ravioli.
• Repeat until you have 16 empanadas.
• Place the empanadas on the baking sheets and brush with an egg wash (just whisk one egg together with a splash of water to make the egg wash).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Mine were done at 23 minutes.
• Serve hot or room temperature.
TO FREEZE EMPANADAS BEFORE COOKING
• Place the assembled empanadas on a baking sheet and put into the freezer for 2 hours.
• When they are frozen, wrap them individually in foil and place into a freezer safe gallon bag or container.
• When ready to use, let defrost for 30 minutes - 1 hour, brush with egg wash, and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
TO FREEZE EMPANADAS AFTER COOKING
• Cook according to directions and then let cool completely.
• Wrap individually in foil and place into a freezer safe gallon bag or container.
• When ready to use, you can defrost in the fridge overnight or let sit out for 1 hour before, then reheat in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to heat through and crisp up again.