Daring Bakers' September Challenge: Empanadas

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

I startled looking through tons of recipes for Empanadas.  I knew that I wanted to make a vegetarian one and I also knew that I wanted to make a whole wheat dough.  After lots of searching, I decided to combine some of my favorite tastes and make something fantastic.  I was inspired by Naturally Ella's recipe, and I adapted from there.   Also, I used the recipe for the dough that was provided from Patri and just used whole wheat flour! 

Sweet Potato Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese Empanada

Ingredients:

Dough Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups lukewarm water
1 satchel (1 tbsp) dry yeast
2 tsp salt

4 tbsp canola oil
olive oil, to brush over pre-baked dough

Filling:
2 tbsp (divided) extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large white onion, coarsely chopped into strips
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 tsp chipotle powder
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika
8 oz goat cheese (I used cranberry cinnamon)

Directions:
1. Make the dough: Mix flour and yeast together and create a hole in the middle of the mixture.  Measure out the water and mix in the salt.  Pour the warm salt water into the hole in the flour and mix to combined.  Knead dough for about 8 minutes or until rough and elastic.  Clean out the bowl, cover with oil, and place dough in the bowl.  Cover witha  a towel and let rest/rise for about 1 hour, or until the dough is about doubled in size.
2. While the dough is rising, make the filling: In a medium saucepan, place 1 tbsp oil, onions, brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp chipotle powder.  Heat over medium, toss to combine, and then let cook, covered for 30 minutes or until onions are caramelized.  Stir the onions ever 5-10 minutes.  

3.  In another large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat and sauté the peppers and garlic until peppers start to look translucent, about 4-5 minutes.  Next, add in the sweet potatoes and the water.  Continue to cook, stirring once in a while until potatoes are cooked and can be pierced with a fork.  Add in the beans, cilantro, caramelized onions, chipotle powder, and season with salt and pepper.   Remove from heat and let cool.

4.  Once your dough has risen, place it on a floured surface and divide in half..  Roll out half the dough into a rectangle about 1 foot by 2 feet.  Spray a large pan or baking sheet with oil and place dough on the baking sheet.  Make sure the dough covers the bottom and goes up the sides.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Next, take the goat cheese and sprinkle crumbles over the dough.  Pour the filling onto the dough.  Roll out the other half of dough so that it covers the top and goes a little over the edges. Pull the edges together and roll to make sure they stay together.  You can cut off any extra dough and use it to make cool designs (I did a J for Jodie :)).  Sprinkle more paprika on the top and then, using a fork, pierce the dough is several places so that the fork goes all the way through the top to the bottom.  Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.

5.  Preheat oven to 400 and let your empanada bake for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden.  Using a spatula, make sure the bottom is cooked as well.  Serve with salsa or other dipping sauces and...

Enjoy :)