Empanadas

We went to some friends' for Easter Dinner. They had a huge (22 pound) ham for dinner. When we left they asked if we wanted any. My husband said no. But I said "Sure!" (Trying to not act like I never have food-which we do). But I was thinking, "Empanadas!!"....   :D   I made a double batch of emapana dough, because I didn't have enough dough, when I made them last time (yesterday). They gave us enough ham, to make three batches, plus some fried for dinner tonight! (I had an empanada).   Here is the dough...

Now I think I tried to explain how I "measured" the wrappers in a previous post (last November?).  I used this plate, because it is just a hair over 5 inches wide on the bottom part that sticks out. So, I press it on the dough.

And, wallah. I have an imprint. Then I take a knife and cut it out.  While your dough is refrigerating (at least one hour), you can make the filling.

These are the ones I made yesterday.  The dough was so tough to work with. I thought I would never make them again. But...

You can see that I did. I made the dough wrong yesterday!! I forgot to add an egg white. There's one large egg, beaten. But, there's also an egg white. Made all the difference in the world! It was so much easier to  work with, and I enjoyed making them.  Now I have some to put in the freezer for later, when the kids say "There's nothing to eat....."  ;P 

Oh, I used this Empanada Dough Recipe, and the Ham and Cheese Empanada Recipe at Family Fun. Tonight after I was done making them, I thought "I wonder what other fillings you can put in them?" And I googled for a couple minutes. (I got sidetracked so I didn't get any more than these, but..) Here is a whole page of ideas for Empanada Fillings. And I found a blog that had a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Empanadas. Yuuum!! You can even make dessert Empanadas.   I hope you get to make some! :)