When I was in college, and free food was often the operative lure to entice students to come to any and every campus event, we would sidestep the usual pizza route and order these vegetarian (and totally awesome) corn & goat cheese empanadas from a place just off campus.
These corn and goat cheese empanadas are flaky, tangy, sweet from the corn, and just perfect for vegetarians or anyone else who just loves an exceptional empanada. These corn and goat cheese empanadas are baked so are more healthy than the usual fried empanada!
The minute the foil came off those trays, those high-end hot pockets were snatched away in a—not even kidding—Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest display that was totally contrary to the general Kumbayah atmosphere that normally prevailed.
Of course, this snatch-and-grab exercise was always conducted in complete silence, but you could almost hear the silent yells of “mine!!” going off in everyone’s heads as they converged on the frightened delivery guy.
Okay, yes I may be exercising my rights to a little narrative hyperbole, but I’m not exaggerating how good those corn and goat cheese empanadas were. Flaky, tangy, sweet from the corn, and the perfect answer to the high-on-coffee hipster college student’s empanada cravings.
Since I currently live about as far away from that college campus as is possible, I tried to recreate them myself, and I’m proud to say I got really close to the original, with a few flourishes of my own. I added a few other ingredients here and there to the filling, and found this amazingly easy (and flakkkkyyy) empanada dough from Epicurious.
So, without further ado…the recipe:
Recipe Instructions
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pastry cutters are a great kitchen investment. Best twelve dollars I ever spent, man. As long as I don’t have to stand at the counter with two blunt butter knives anymore, I’m happy.
In a small bowl, beat together the egg, water, and vinegar. Add it to the flour mixture.
Stir until just combined. The mixture will look pretty rough and shaggy. And a lovely shade of yellow.
Knead gently a couple times, just enough to bring the dough together. Wrap the dough in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
When you’re ready to make the filling, prep your veggies.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potato and sauté until just starting to get golden. The sweet potato just adds another layer of sweetness to the empanadas.
Add the bell pepper and corn and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the scallions. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Allow to cool for a few minutes. The mixture can be warm, but not piping hot.
In a bowl, add the goat cheese and cream cheese.
Add the parsley…
…and vegetable mixture. Stir well and taste again for salt and pepper.
When you’re ready to assemble the empanadas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into a 5-inch circle (to achieve a circle, start with a dough ball and turn the dough a quarter turn to the left each time you roll).
Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons filling into the center of each round.
Fold each circle in half.
Crimp each empanada closed or press with a fork. My crimping skills were inconsistent, at best. I think this is one of the better-looking ones. Eh, it’s not a beauty contest, is it?
Transfer the empanadas onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Lightly brush each empanada with egg wash.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool for five minutes and serve your corn and goat cheese empanadas hot!
OKAY. Do you SEE that flakiness happening all over that plate? Amazing.
Leftover filling? Spread it on some toasted baguette. Happpppy days.
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Recipe
CORN & GOAT CHEESE EMPANADAS
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
For the filling:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small sweet potato (finely diced)
- 1 small red bell pepper (finely diced)
- 1 1/2 cups sweet corn kernels
- 2 scallions (chopped)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 6 oz. goat cheese
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)
- Egg wash
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until it resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, beat together the egg, water, and vinegar. Add it to the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. The mixture will look pretty rough and shaggy. Knead gently a couple times, just enough to bring the dough together. Wrap the dough in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potato and sauté until just starting to get golden. Add the bell pepper and corn and cook until tender, about 5-8 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the scallions. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Allow to cool for a few minutes. The mixture can be warm, but not piping hot.
- In a bowl, add the goat cheese, cream cheese, parsley, and vegetable mixture. Stir well and taste again for salt and pepper.
- When you’re ready to assemble the empanadas, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece into a 5-inch circle (to achieve a circle, start with a dough ball and turn the dough a quarter turn to the left each time you roll).
- Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons filling into the center of each round, and fold it in half. Crimp each empanada closed or press with a fork. Transfer the empanadas onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly brush each empanada with egg wash and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool for five minutes and serve!
