This recipe for Swiss Chard and Cheese Empanadas incorporates bechamel sauce and caramelized onions for juicy flavor.Renee Comet/The Washington Post
Goral is referring to Jose Garces, the Philadelphia-based chef and empire builder who opened the Argentine-themed Rural Society in Washington this past summer. To achieve empanadas that pass muster with the boss, Goral and his team stuff a soft dough with a filling of Swiss chard and cheese that gets a haunting flavor from Pernod, the French anise liqueur. Caramelized onions and bechamel sauce add to the juiciness.
If everyone made them this way, nobody would get a dry empanada again.
Swiss Chard and Cheese Empanadas
Servings: 10
Ingredients:
1/3 cup cornstarch
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 cups flour, plus extra for surface
1 cup water
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 pound Swiss chard
2 scallions, chopped
¾ cup caramelized onions
¼ cup Pernod
¾ cup bechamel sauce
3 ounces (about 1 cup) grated Idiazabalor aged manchego cheese
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
Method:
Use your fingers to blend cornstarch and 6 tablespoons softened butter in a bowl. Combine flour and kosher salt in a separate bowl. Add water and vinegar; stir to incorporate. Add the butter mixture; use your hands to fold it into the dough, kneading until blended. Transfer to a floured surface and knead a few more minutes, adding flour as necessary, until the dough is elastic and tacky but not sticky. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Strip the leaves of Swiss chard from the stems, discard the stems, and cut the leaves into strips.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add scallions and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chard and cook until it wilts and its moisture mostly evaporates, 3 to 4 minutes. Add caramelized onions and Pernod and cook for 3 minutes, until the filling is moist but not soupy. Add bechamel sauce, bring the mixture to a gentle boil, and stir in cheese and salt. Refrigerate until cold.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. To form the empanadas, transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll it to ¼-inch thickness. Trace and cut out 10 4-inch rounds, gathering up the scraps and rerolling as necessary. Lightly whisk egg, then brush a little on one edge of each dough round. Scoop 3 tablespoons of the chilled filling into the center of each round. Fold each into a half circle. Pinch ½ inch of dough together around the outside, then crimp the edges to seal. Transfer the rounds to baking sheets; brush the empanadas with more egg.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.
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