InternationalBreadLunch

Empanada de Pino

Name: Empanada de Pino
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 600 g beef, finely diced by hand, or coarse mince; 4 onions, chopped; more onion than meat is correct; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp sweet paprika; 100 ml beef stock; 50 g raisins; 12 black olives, whole, with a warning; 2 hard-boiled eggs, in 12 slices; 750 g plain flour, for the dough; 150 g melted lard or butter; 300 ml warm water, with 2 tsp salt dissolved; 1 egg, plus one more beaten for the wash; oil, salt and pepper, as needed

Chile’s baked empanada: a soft lard crust around slow-cooked beef and onion pino with the mandatory olive, raisin and slice of egg.

prep: 1 h
cook: 30 min
total: 1 h 30 min
serves: 6
level: medium

Chilean empanadas are baked, large, and non-negotiable about their contents: the beef and onion pino must come with one whole olive, a few raisins and a slice of hard-boiled egg in every single one. Finding them is part of eating it.

The professional move is making the pino a day ahead. Rested, it firms up and deepens, making the empanadas easier to fill and better to eat.

Empanada de Pino is one of the world's classic dishes from 67 countries.

ingredients

for 6 servings · tap to tick off

600 g beef, finely diced by hand, or coarse mince
4 onions, chopped; more onion than meat is correct
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp sweet paprika
100 ml beef stock
50 g raisins
12 black olives, whole, with a warning
2 hard-boiled eggs, in 12 slices
750 g plain flour, for the dough
150 g melted lard or butter
300 ml warm water, with 2 tsp salt dissolved
1 egg, plus one more beaten for the wash
oil, salt and pepper, as needed

good to have

rolling pin
pastry brush

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method

Ideally the day before: soften the onions in oil for 10 minutes, add the beef, cumin and paprika, brown, then add the stock and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the raisins, season generously, and chill.
Make the dough: mix the flour with the melted lard, egg and warm salted water into a soft dough. Knead 5 minutes and rest 30, covered.
Divide into 12 balls and roll each into a 16 cm round.
On each round: a scoop of cold pino, one olive, a few raisins if loose, a slice of egg. Wet the edge, fold into a half-moon, and fold the corners in to make the classic rectangle.
Egg wash, prick once, and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 to 30 minutes until deep gold.
Rest 10 minutes; molten olive is a known hazard.

chef's tips

Cold, rested pino fills cleanly; warm pino tears the dough and leaks.
Hand-diced beef is traditional and worth it; the texture is the point.
They freeze raw; bake from frozen with 10 extra minutes.

classic recipes, cooked properly.

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