Cuban sandwiches are one of my favorite flavor combinations, as you will quickly find out when it appears several times in the pages of this book. It might seem like a grilled ham and cheese isn’t that revelatory, but once you add that savory roast pork, juicy pickles and tangy mustard, it really changes the game. These little Cuban sandwich pockets will take your game-day party to the next level.
Makes: 8 small empanadas Heat: 0.5 Pig-Out Scale: 6.8
½cup112g butter, chopped into 1/2-inch (1/3 cm) cubes and frozen for 30 minutes
1egg
½cup80ml water
I also added about 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Roast Pork Filling
¾pound340 g boneless country-style pork ribs
¼cup60 ml red wine vinegar
¼cup44 g mustard
2tablespoons30 ml Worcestershire sauce
Stuffing
16pickle slices
16Swiss cheese slices
8ham slices
Instructions
Make the Dough
Mix the flour and butter in a bowl.
With your fingers, work the butter into the flour. Then beat the egg into the water and pour the water/egg mixture into the flour and mix with a fork.
Once it comes together, begin kneading with your hands. Knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth.
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
Make the Filling
Preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C, or gas mark 2).
Chop the pork into 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes.
Toss in the vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
Place in an oven-safe frying pan and cover with foil.
Bake for 2½ hours, stirring once halfway through the cooking time.
Remove from the oven and shred the pork with the cooking liquid.
Stuff It!
Roll out your empanada dough into 8 thin rounds.
Place one-eighth of the pork filling, 2 pickle slices, 2 cheese slices and 1 ham slice on each round.
Fold the round over and seal by lightly wetting the edge with your finger.
Fold little bits of dough over itself to form that famous empanada look (see picture on page 16).
Cook
You can bake or fry these empanadas.
To fry, heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven to 350F (180C).
Gently drop in your empanada and let it cook until browned, about 2 minutes.
If you want to bake them, set the oven for 400F (200C, or gas mark 6), and lightly flour a baking sheet.
Mix the egg with the water (1 egg and 1/4 cup water) and beat until smooth.
Place your empanadas on the sheet and brush nice and evenly with the egg wash.
Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Notes
Jenni's Notes I had a lot of leftover pork. I am planning on reheating it with black beans to serve over rice.I made the dough in the food processor and it worked perfectly. I combined the flour and salt and pulsed a few times. Then I added the butter and processed until I had a nice mealy texture. I poured in the egg/water mixture through the spout while the processor was on and then pulsed until it came together in a nice ball.I baked the empanadas, and I suggest that you do, too. They are perfect baked.