Tapas: Cheese and Olives Empanadillas

posted by virtual chef on Oct 3, 2009 | Appetizers | 

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Early last month, Kate of  Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails, sent me the cookbook  Tapas: 40 Delicious Traditional Spanish Recipes (Contemporary Cooking)as part of her cookbook giveaway.  I was so excited to receive it and was really looking forward to making several (if not all) of the recipes.  I did promise her I will make one of the recipes within 30 days of receiving the cookbook and post about it on my blog.  Well…here it is.  I had a hard time choosing which one to make and post.  Wait!…let me rephrase that.  I had a hard time choosing which one to post first.  LOL!  All the recipes are simple and easy to make I decided to try them all!  So here is the first installment, a fantastic cheese and olives empanadillas.  It didn’t hurt that I had some homemade puff pastry leftover from the September Daring Bakers challenge of Vols-au-vent.  It was an excellent way to use up the scraps from the puff pastry.

Ingredients:

  • 85 g firm or soft cheese (you can use either gruyere, cheddar, gouda or mozarella.  I used gruyere.), diced small
  • 1/2 cup pitted green olives, chopped
  • 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
  • 50 g canned anchovies, drained and chopped
  • pepper
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • all purpose flour for dusting
  • 500 g puff pastry (ready made or homemade)
  • egg glaze (egg yolk + 1 tbs water beaten)

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Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Combine all chopped ingredients including tomato paste in a bowl and mix gently.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry thinly. Cut into 18 circles about 3 1/4 inch in diameter.
  4. Place 1 tsp  of prepared filling equally in the center of each pastry circle.  Dampen the edges with water and fold over in half, sealing the edges. You can store the pastries in the refrigerator at this point until you are ready to bake them.
  5. Place the pastries onto dampened baking sheets, and brush each with egg wash. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes  or until golden brown and well risen.  Serve piping hot, warm or cold.

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Check out Kate’s website and sign up to win one of her numerous cookbook giveaways.

Thanks again, Kate!

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» jenn said: { Oct 3, 2009 - 08:10 }

Nice way of using up the scraps of puff pastry. Looks really good. I tried to make something similar several months ago, but mine didn’t turn out as great. I may just have to give it another shot.

» penny aka jeroxie said: { Oct 3, 2009 - 10:10 }

Cheese and olives. Yummy combination. This will work great as a party food!

» lululu said: { Oct 4, 2009 - 12:10 }

gruyere is one of my favorite cheese! i bet it must be a wonderful combination to go with olives!
such a perfect tapa dish!

» Alta said: { Oct 4, 2009 - 07:10 }

Wow, sounds so delicious!

» redkathy said: { Oct 4, 2009 - 11:10 }

Lovely appetizer. This is just perfect to serve with my family Christmas Eve dinner.

» Divina said: { Oct 4, 2009 - 10:10 }

Very tasty. I love empanadillas. This is a great snack for me. Maybe a bigger one would do. :)

» Simply Life said: { Oct 5, 2009 - 05:10 }

Oh WOW, those look great!

» Seduction Meals said: { Oct 5, 2009 - 08:10 }

Looks and sounds absolutely delicious! I had to share this on my Facebook page with a link to your site/recipe.

» Rosemaryandthegoat said: { Oct 5, 2009 - 08:10 }

These look great. I have an empanada dough recipe I may use and try this filling and a little dumpling press that even makes the job easier.

» Experimental Culinary Pursuits said: { Oct 5, 2009 - 03:10 }

I love tapas! Can’t wait to play around with cheese and olive combinations !

» Erin Berry said: { Nov 3, 2009 - 04:11 }

Can these be made ahead of time and warmed up on the day of the party?

Thanks!

» virtual chef said: { Nov 3, 2009 - 07:11 }

Erin: The book says these are often times served cold, too. But I have made them in advance and microwaved it quickly to serve it warm.

» Kate said: { Dec 16, 2009 - 03:12 }

Oh I’m so sorry I missed this earlier. Not sure how I overlooked it and here it is, in all it’s glory. Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed the book.

» renee alberts said: { Dec 28, 2010 - 07:12 }

These are delicious. I made them the night before a party and reheated right before. The cheese and olives
is a wonderful combination.


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