My grandma Lillie emigrated from Argentina with her family in the mid-1960’s. She very much embraced mainstream American culture, but on occasion she would make toast with dulce de leche, cookies with quince jam my great grandpa Manuel sent her, or, sometimes around the holidays, delicious empanadas. It was only when I was older that I realized these were not unique family foods, but common Argentinian dishes, which are a blend of Spanish, Basque, Italian, and indigenous influences. However, I’ve never found any empanadas as good as my family’s recipe! I now make these every December as an appetizer at Christmas dinner, and as a gift to friends.
Put raisins in a small bowl and cover with hot or boiling water, set aside.
For the hard boiled eggs: put eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain, then submerge the eggs in an ice bath, or run under cold water, then peel off the shells and chop.
In a large frying pan sauté the yellow onion in oil until soft, then add the green onions, and cook for another couple minutes. Remove from pan into a small bowl, set aside.
In the same pan cook the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces. Remove from heat, and drain the fat.
To the meat stir in the cooked onions, plumped raisins (drained), green olives, and diced egg. Add the allspice, cloves, salt and pepper to taste. I personally love a heavy clove flavor for this.
After the mixture cools, add a couple tablespoons to an empanada disk. Wet the edges of the dough with a finger dipped in water, fold in half, press the edges together, and then fold up the edge for a decorative seal. No fork-crimped edges allowed!
Brush the tops and the edges with the egg yolk. Bake for about 25 minutes at 375 degrees until golden.
Makes about a dozen. Can be enjoyed fresh, or store in the fridge for a couple days and reheat in the microwave.
