Don’t you just love a simple home made snack, bursting with flavour and deliciousness? Well, I found my weak spot, these Cheese, Corn and Chilli Empanadas are the type of appetizer that gets me going and going…until they’re all gone, you see.
I also used a pretty nifty kitchen tool to make these pleasing pastries and I have to just say that I will be using it for my Christmas baking this year, for sure. I might even wrap a few of these up as gifts this festive season. I’m talking about this very cool Empanada Fork from the team over at UncommonGoods.
Founded in 1999 and head quartered in Brooklyn, New York, UncommonGoods is a privately-owned retailer that endeavours to feature unique designs and hand crafted gifts created in harmony with the environment and without harm to animals or people. How absolutely cool is that? These guys make it their mission to support and provide a platform for artists and designers, in fact, half of what they sell are made by hand.
I don’t know about you but I will be scouring their amazing site for loads of goodies this Christmas for hubby and for the boy . Spoilt brats, I say.
And guys, you can even spoil wifey with a few cool gadgets right here. There might be something for the whole family this Christmas, really, so do go browse around and order online – they ship to South Africa, by the way – making shopping online a complete breeze.
I couldn’t wait to test out this Empanada Fork, and upon opening my parcel after delivery I found a cool information booklet inside, all about the artist’s story. Heart-warming indeed…
Back to the recipe, I used a combination of three cheeses with corn kernels and chilli flakes to make a pretty decent bite, to enjoy at any special occasion. I used a very simple sour cream dough recipe for these Empanadas and if you have any of it left, just pop it in the freezer until you feel like baking again.
Most of the products these guys carry are created in the USA, and about one-third of their entire collection incorporates recycled and/or up cycled materials.
“At the core of our company is a great respect for the integrity of the creative individual and the belief that it is our responsibility to use our business to impact the world in a positive way.”
I absolutely love this concept – so go on guys – it’s never too early to start buying Christmas prezzies. I will definitely be giving gifts with a great cause this year.
*This post was sponsored, images and recipe my own. I was given the Empanada Fork free of charge to review.
| Prep Time | 1 hour, including chilling time |
| Cook Time | 20 min |
| Servings | pies |
- 3 cups flour and extra for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 250 gr soft butter
- 250 ml sour cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup grated gouda cheese
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
- 2 teaspoons chili flakes
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 large egg whisked, for egg wash
Ingredients
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- To make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, lemon juice, butter and sour cream and incorporate all the ingredients until you have a heavy, easy manageable dough.
- Cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour – the dough needs to be chilled when you use it.
- After the dough has had time to chill, dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out.
- You can use your Empanada Fork to cut the discs – first the one half, turn the fork and cut the rest of the circled disk.
- Mix the cheeses together in a mixing bowl, add the chilli flakes to the cheese and mix through.
- Fill the disk in the middle with about a tablespoon full of cheese and add a few corn kernels as well.
- Gently fold the pastry over, dab with a little water at the edge and simply close it by pressing the Empanada Fork on the folded pastry.
- I also dusted my fork with flour to ensure it doesn't stick to the dough.
- Touch the top of the pastries with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 15 – 20 minutes or until your pies are golden brown.
- Serve immediately with your choice of dip.
Hi
I’m in Jhb as well! I found this recipe and am eager to try it out – cheese & corn is one of my favourite combinations, and, always best with some chilli. ☺️. Thanks for the recipe however, before I try it I have some questions 🤔:
1. Did you use just ordinary cake flour (like ones readily available in shops here), or any special type of flour?
2. Are the quantity of cheeses for coarsely or finely grated cheese?
3. Did you use fresh cut-off-the-cob corn (sweetcorn?) Or frozen? Cooked or uncooked?
4. Roughly what size is the empanada supposed to be? Therefore, what are the dimensions of the pastry thickness, and the disks that need to be cut out?
5. What’s the easiest way of cutting out the disks of pastry without this tool?
6. Is there a reason you didn’t mix in the corn with the cheese in the bowl then fill the disks?
7. To get the edges like that without the tool, does one do the crimping with a fork dusted with flour?
8. Did you brush the entire top with egg wash before baking?
I can’t wait to try, and more importantly taste these 😁
Hi Chrishan. Thank you for taking time to comment! To get to your questions:
1. Yes, I used ordinary cake flour.
2. Finely grated works best.
3. I used kernels cut off of a cooked cob.
4. This is totally up to you, I had a great tool that made them fit nicely in my palm. A good reference point is to use a cutting disk about 12 – 15 cm in diameter. The discs can be anything from 2mm to 5mm thick.
5. I usually just use a large mug or dessert bowl.
6. You can totally mix the corn with the cheese before filling.
7. Yes!
8. Yes!
Hope it turns out well!!