Camino Flavors: Eggplant Empanada

Every culture has some version of a hand pie and Spain is no exception. The empanada is flaky pastry filled with meat, vegetables or fruit. The types of filling available and the shape will depend on the region but popular varieties are tuna and hard boiled egg, seasonal fruits and cheese or lamb with dates. Some of the combinations make your head spin with possibilities. They can be served warm or at room temperature which makes them convenient walking food as I discovered last September on the Camino de Santiago. Today I want to share a spiced eggplant empanada that takes advantage of store bought pastry.

You’ll love the sweet and savory eggplant filling

The filling is inspired by a relish similar to caponata. It’s made with eggplant, pine nuts and dates seasoned with cumin and smoky paprika. It was delicious when wrapped within the pastry.

A frozen croissant or puff pastry dough is the best choice for our eggplant empanada. The poppin fresh crescent roll dough in the tube will do if you can’t find the other type. You could also use your favorite flaky pie crust recipe.

As mentioned, empanadas come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The ones I ate on the Camino were usually oval and sized to be easily carried. A cardboard template helps to cut the dough in the right shape.

A medium eggplant (about a pound) makes more than enough filling for one empanada. The leftovers are great on spread on a sandwich or heated and served over rice like a curry.

The filling is made by cooking onions and eggplant until they’re tender, then adding some tomato sauce, raisins, toasted pine nuts and seasoning. The filling is then sealed between two layers of pastry which is baked according to the package directions until an amazing golden brown.

I took the time to make a fancy edge to my pastry but it lost the shape when the dough rose in the oven. (It was a d’urrrr moment.) Not to worry, the sweet and spicy filling didn’t suffer at all!

Eggplant Empanada

These sweet and savory hand pies are perfect for picnics.

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Course: lunch, Snack

Cuisine: Spanish, vegetarian

Servings: 4 servings

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant about a pound, trimmed and cut into small pieces
• 1 medium onion diced small
• about 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
• 1/2 cup raisins soaked in warm water until plump
• 2 - 3 tablespoons tomato paste + a little water to loosen it up or 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 2 - 3 teaspoons smoky paprika or to taste
• 1 - 2 teaspoons cumin or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package frozen croissant or puff pastry dough
• 1 egg beaten with a teaspoon of water for egg wash

Instructions

• Add enough warm water to just cover the raisins in a small cup and allow to soak for about a half an hour.
• Meanwhile prepare the onion and eggplant.
• Saute the onions in some olive oil over medium high heat until they begin to take on some color. Stir in the eggplant and add more oil as needed. Cook until the eggplant is soft but still has it's shape, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Next, toast the pine nut in a dry skillet, being careful not to burn them.
• When the eggplant is tender, push the vegetables to the sides of the skillet and add the tomato paste, paprika and cumin. Stir them together to combine and add a little water to loosen it up a bit. Gently bring the vegetables in from the sides of the pan to coat with the seasoning.
• Add the raisins and pine nuts. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• While the eggplant is cooling, prepare the croissant dough for baking and preheat the oven as directed on the package.
• Prep a baking tray with parchment and lay the bottom crust in place.
• Add the filling in the middle of the crust, keeping in mind you need to keep the edges clear to seal the dough and the top crust needs to stretch over the filling. You may not need all the filling you have prepared.
• Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Brush the pastry with an egg wash and bake for the time indicated on the package.
• Cut into slices and serve the empanada hot or room temperature.

Notes

In Spain, they sell dough especially for empanadas. They often have lard in them. Check the labels if you want to make a vegan or vegetarian empanada.

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Want a meatier filling? Try these tuna and potato empanadas.

Camino Flavors is a series of posts published on the first Wednesday of the month. You’ll find the other posts here.