Open-Faced Crab Empanadas

I ran across this recipe while browsing Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2007. I ordered some of these old versions of these cookbooks from Amazon this past Christmas, because they’re SO cheap. They have ALL of the recipes from their magazines for that year, and this one costs less than $5, shipped. Anyways, I saw the Open-Faced Crab Empanadas by Jose Andres, and decided I’d make them as a Saturday night dinner.

Here’s what you need: 

All purpose flour, puff pastry, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, paprika, salt & lump crabmeat

Prepped & ready

That crab tho

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Cut down the middle (hot dog style) so you end up with two rectangles. [the Food & Wine recipe was a little bit different, but pretty specific — I left out these steps, because they I wanted to save you guys time — I did them and it didn’t end up working out! — Here’s the original recipe if you want to make them ‘look pretty’]. I say just fold the edges over a bit to give them a small crust. 

Place the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Bake the pastry shells for 30 minutes until light brown to brown & crisp and borders rise a bit. (If it starts to puff up in the oven, flatten it down with a spatula or something).

Heat your olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add your garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add your onion and cook until softened (about 7 minutes). Add your peppers and cover.

Olive oil, Garlic, Onions, Peppers

Cook about 8 more minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove lid and add your paprika. The recipe calls for smoked Spanish paprika, but I used a mixture of smoked paprika and Hungarian paprika. Use whatever kinda paprika you have. It shouldn’t affect the outcome… crab is crab is crab <is delicious>. Add your crab and cook, tossing gently until heated through (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt. 

Spread the crab filling into the center of the cooked pastry shells. Cut the shells crosswise into handle-able slices. :)

ENJOY!

Open-Faced Crab Empanadas

2015-03-24 13:15:19

A baked puff-pastry topped with a sauteed lump crab mix (with garlic, onion, and bell pepper).

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 15 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, minced

1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika (or whatever paprika you have)

1/2 lb. lump crabmeat, picked over

Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Cut down the middle (hot dog style) so you end up with two rectangles. Fold the edges over a bit to give them a small crust.
2. Place the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes.
3. Bake the pastry shells for 30 minutes until light brown to brown & crisp and borders rise a bit. (If it starts to puff up in the oven, flatten it down with a spatula).
4. Heat your olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add your garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add your onion and cook until softened (about 7 minutes). Add your peppers and cover.
5. Cook about 8 more minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove lid. Add your paprika and your crab and cook, tossing gently until heated through (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt.
6. Spread the crab filling into the center of the cooked pastry shells. Cut the shells crosswise into handle-able slices.

Notes

1. The baked, unfilled pastries can be wrapped in aluminum foil and kept at room temp. overnight. Reheat pastry shells in a 350 degree oven for 3 minutes before filling.

Adapted from Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2007

Adapted from Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2007

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