Kyana Shares Her Family Recipe For Argentinian Empanadas

Playboy Club model Kyana will be cooking with her family at the holidays this year, the way she does every year, and she was kind enough to share about it with Playboy.

“This dish is a traditional Argentinian version of empanadas,” Kyana told Playboy. “My dad was born in Buenos Aires, and my abuela has kept us all in touch with our roots by making recipes like these for my family. It’s one of my favorite foods and it’s perfect for the holidays, it was made by my family a lot throughout the winter months as the oven would help warm the whole house and the empanadas warmed our hearts.”

To create the empanadas:

Ingredients:

• 4 garlic cloves chopped or grated finely
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil, high quality
• 1 TBL sweet paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste (or adobo)
• 1/2 lb ground beef (or vegan sub like i use since i don’t eat beef)
• 1 large egg (use 2 if making more than 10 empanadas) and 1 additional egg white 
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 Spanish olive per empanada (so depends on how much you plan on making, this recipe should make about 20-24. I recommend making around 10-15 and saving the rest of the filling to make later in the week as it should last in the fridge for a least a week and you can also freeze it)
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 or 2 packs of the Goya empanada dough discs (depending on how many you decide to make) for baking make sure not to get the frying ones

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Chop up onion, bell pepper, and garlic
3. Bring pan to medium heat before adding in olive oil along with the chopped veggies
4. Sauté till caramelized 
5. Add the ground beef and seasonings to the pan and cook throughly 
6. Set aside beef to cool and bring a pot of water to boil for egg before adding it in.
7. Once egg is cooked and cooled, peel and cut into quarters and then cut those quarters in half.
8. Take out olives so that they’re ready for filling, and separate one egg white from an egg and whisk together in a small bowl to prepare for egg wash.
9. Line large baking tray with parchment paper and then use a plate/cutting board/flat surface to fill empanada
10. Place disc flat on surface of choice and place about 1 large spoon of the meat filling in the middle of the disc. Take an olive and put it on one end of the meat and a piece of the egg on the other.
11. Fold disc over gently, smoothing dough over the filling and leaving room to close the disc.
12. Press down gently on the edge of the disc and you can either use a fork to press and secure the dough or twist and press (you can YouTube/google how to do this since it’s difficult for first timers and hard to explain)
13. Place empanada on baking sheet and repeat with rest of empanadas
14. Before you place these in the oven to bake, use a brush or your fingers to gently spread the egg white over the top of the dough. This step ensures that the empanada will come out with a glossy, crisp finish and also can help keep it from splitting in the oven so don’t skip it!
15. Oven times may vary, so turn your oven light on and keep a good eye on them until the empanadas are lightly golden brown on the outside. While you’re waiting you can make the chimichurri or you can make it before the empanadas it’s up to you (or you can skip it all together but it makes the dish even better you won’t want to haha)

To make the chimichurri that pairs with the empanadas

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of fresh parsley
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 TBL of dried or fresh oregano
• 1 TBL of red chili flakes (can skip if you don’t like spice)
• 12 TBL of high quality olive oil
• 4 TBL of red wine vinegar (or white vinegar depending on what you have at home)
• 3-4 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse and dry your parsley before picking off the leaves and discarding stems
2. Chop your parsley leaves as finely as possible you’ll need about 4 tablespoons give or take and add to bowl
3. Next chop or grate your garlic as fine as you can about 2 tablespoons and add to bowl with parsley, oregano, chili flakes, bay leaves, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
4. You can adjust measurements based on consistency preference. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste before mixing and serving with empanadas. You can store this in the fridge for 2 weeks in a jar so use it up!

Kyana is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her here.