Healthy On the Go Pastry Recipe - Empanadas

By Aileen Cox Blundell

This vegetarian pastry recipe called an Empanada is a great finger food for baby led weaning because of its perfectly small size. Toddlers love it too as they enjoy seeing the ingredients being tucked away under the soft doughy blanket which they can happily seal in with a soft plastic fork. They are packed full of goodness and make a great freezer filler. 

An Empanada is great on the Go Pastry recipe? So what exactly is an Empanada?

An empanada is a type of baked turnover consisting of pastry and filling. It’s commonly seen in Spain, Southern Europe, Latin American, and the Philippines.  The name comes from the Galician verb empanar. It translates as “enbreaded”, which means wrapped or coated in bread. These mini empanadas are vegetarian, but you can also stuff with chicken, pork or fish if this is the preference for a whole family dinner. 

An empanada is made by folding a disc of thinly rolled dough over the filling into a semicircle, then crimping the edges to seal it. The dough is often made with wheat flour, but this isn’t universal. Corn flour or cornmeal can be used as well, and some countries traditions call for a plantain or potato base. The exact content of the dough can depend on whether the empanadas will be baked or fried. It’s said that the art of making a perfect empanada is to hold the dough, spread open, in one hand, while using the other hand to fill it and to crimp the edges. However you prepare it, it is bound to make the perfect on the go pastry recipe.

Why is it Great For On The Go?

This pastry recipe is great for on the go, busy family life. All the ingredients are neatly sealed into the pastry so its the perfect packaging! If up make them yourself older children and fussy eaters are unable to quizz the ingredients. That means all kinds of goodness can be tucked in under that pastry. They also freeze really well so you can prepare ahead. You can make larger ones for adults and older children and freeze them for handy dinners at a later stage.

They were originally created as mini portable pies which contained a full hearty meal and could be brought around easily by men and women working the fields. So they really are the ultimate on the go recipe! All the goodness and zero sugar content of all those lovely veggies are tucked away. In their native countries of origin,  it is considered acceptable to eat empanadas at any meal, including breakfast, although they are usually enjoyed as a lunch or evening supper!

For more Great, Healthy, Baby Led Weaning Pastry Recipes:

Mini Baby-Friendly Quiches

Veggie Loaded Spinach, Pepper and Herb Quiche

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pinwheels Pastry Recipe

Chicken and Veggie Pot Pie

Cranberry, Pesto and Goats cheese bites are not just for Christmas!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #babyledfeeding on Instagram.

Aileen xoxoxo

Healthy On the Go Pastry Recipe – Empanadas

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Prep: 20 minutes minutes

Cook: 25 minutes minutes

Total: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 Makes mini-empanadas

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A Scrumptious vegetarian pastry recipe. Try some empanadas for the perfect start in baby-led feeding. Your older child will love this too.

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion
• 1 medium courgette
• 4 mini bell peppers or 1 large
• 4-6 cloves garlic finely diced
• 8 stems long stem broccoli
• 4 tbsp pure olive oil
• 2 tsp paprika
• Black pepper to season
• 8 cherry tomatoes quartered
• 2 large handfuls baby leaf spinach
• 1 400 g tin chickpeas drained
• 300 g plain flour
• 160 g unsalted butter
• 4 –6 tablespoons water
• 1 egg for egg wash

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Method

• Preheat oven to 180ºC.
• Chop all of the vegetables into roughly the same sized pieces, then place into a baking tray. Drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and season with a little pepper. 
• Roast until the vegetables can be squished between your finger and thumb. Then remove from the oven and stir in cherry tomatoes and baby spinach. Empty in the chickpeas, then using a masher, mash until they are broken apart.
• Sieve the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and, using your fingers, rub them into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, using your hands to mix, until the pastry sticks together. 
• Empty the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, then roll until thin. Cut into roughly 16 circles. 
• Add one tablespoon of the vegetable mixture to the centre of each pastry, fold in half then using a fork press the edges together. Place onto a lightly buttered baking tray, and brush lightly with a little whisky egg.
• Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Serve warm.

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