Spiced Beef Hand Pie with Chimichurri — Spiced Beef Empanada - Merguez
Algerian merguez-spiced ground beef with harissa, cumin, and fennel folded into flaky Argentine empanada pastry, baked golden and served with bright herby chimichurri for dipping.
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Finely dice onion. Mince 6 garlic cloves for the filling and 6 for the chimichurri. Toast fennel seed in a dry pan 60 seconds and crush coarsely. Mince parsley, oregano, and Fresno chilis. Preheat oven to 400F.
Build 1
Whisk flour and 1 tsp salt in a bowl. Rub cold butter into the flour with fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse sand. Beat 2 whole eggs with ice water and stir into the flour with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Knead 60 seconds until smooth, wrap, and rest in the fridge 15 minutes.
Sear
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high 60 seconds. Add onion and cook 3 minutes until softened. Add beef, breaking it up, and brown 5–6 minutes until no pink remains and edges crisp.
Build 2
Stir in filling garlic, harissa, cumin, coriander, fennel, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and salt over medium 90 seconds until fragrant and the spices coat every crumb. Tip filling into a bowl and chill 5 minutes.
Build 3
Roll dough on a floured surface to 3mm thickness. Cut 6 discs roughly 14cm across. Spoon filling into the center of each disc, brush edges with water, fold over into half-moons, and crimp the seam with a fork.
Bake
Lay empanadas on parchment-lined sheet pans. Whisk egg yolks with milk and brush over the tops. Bake 22–24 minutes until pastry turns deep gold and the seams crisp.
Plate
Whisk minced parsley, oregano, chimichurri garlic, Fresno chilis, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl to a loose chimichurri. Lift empanadas to plates, spoon chimichurri into a small bowl alongside for dipping, and serve hot.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.