Husband’s family is big into Taco Tuesday. We are too but have been looking for ways to change it up a bit – to reinvent our Taco Tuesday. The last two weeks I have made chicken empanadas with store bought pizza dough. I used leftover chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken we purchased from the supermarket. They are super easy and sooooo tasty. We have been taking the leftover empanadas into work the next day for lunch. They heat up nicely in the microwave or you can eat them at room temperature. They are hand held pockets of deliciousness!
Ingredients:
Pizza Dough, 1 bag of store bought white or whole wheat (I really like the Trader Joe’s brand dough)
Extra Virgn Olive Oil (“EVOO”), 2 tablespoons
Flour, 1/2 cup
Garlic, 1 clove, minced
Shredded Carrots, 1/2 cup
Onion, 1/2, diced
Roma Tomato, 1, roughly chopped
Bell Pepper, 1/2, any color, chopped
Salsa, 1/2 cup, medium heat
Sea Salt, 1 teaspoon
Fresh Ground Pepper, 1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon
Paprika or Chili Powder, 1 teaspoon
Rotisserie Chicken, 1 1/2 cups chopped(I used white meat but you can definitely substitute dark meat here)
Egg, 1, to brush the empanadas with for browning purposes
Directions:
1. Sprinkle the flour over your counter and empty the pizza dough onto the flour and allow to come to room temperature. Using cold dough that has immediately come out of the fridge will not be easy to work with.
2. Get a skillet ready with some olive oil on medium to low heat. Saute onion and garlic until translucent.
3. Add the shredded carrots, tomato, bell pepper to the skillet and cook down. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.
4. Add the chicken to the skillet and combine with the vegetables.
5. Add the salsa to the skillet and combine with everything.
6. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken/vegetable mixture to cool down.
7. Preheat the oven to the temperature listed on the pizza dough bag – usually 425 degrees for Trader Joe’s pizza dough.
8. While the oven is preheating and the chicken/vegetable mixture is cooling, start working with the dough to make 8 circles.
9. Once the circles are ready, the mixture will be cool enough to load into the dough.
10. Fold the top of the circle over the bottom and make a half circle. Use a fork to crimp the edges and close the empanada. Place the finished product on a Pam’d cookie sheet.
11. Once all of the empanadas are assembled, brush with egg so that the empanadas bake to a golden brown.
12. Bake in the oven according to the directions on the pizza dough bag. Typically that amounts to 10 minutes or until you are satisfied with the browning of the empanadas.
13. Enjoy with some homemade guacamole, salsa verde or a nice refreshing corn salad!
