For company
Empanada gallega
A great golden Galician hand-pie of tuna, onions, peppers and egg. Breakfast, lunch or dinner — and even better at room temperature.
Cook the filling first and cool it completely. Warm filling steams the pastry and you lose the crisp bottom.
Method
- 01
Make the sofrito: cook the onions, garlic and peppers gently in the olive oil for 30–35 minutes until completely soft and sweet. Stir in the paprika and tomato and cook 10 minutes more. Season, then strain off the oil and reserve it.
- 02
Make the dough with the flour, yeast, salt, the reserved warm pepper oil and water. Knead 8 minutes until smooth, cover and prove 1 hour.
- 03
Flake the tuna through the cooled sofrito.
- 04
Divide the dough in two and roll each piece to a rectangle the size of your baking tray. Line the tray with one sheet.
- 05
Spread the filling over, leaving a 2cm border, then lay the sliced egg over the top.
- 06
Cover with the second sheet, press and crimp the edges firmly, and cut a small chimney hole in the centre. Glaze with beaten egg.
- 07
Bake at 200°C for 35–40 minutes until deeply golden and crisp. Rest 15 minutes before cutting into squares.
Serve it with
Pairings
- Cheeses
- Tetilla, the Galician cheese made for this pie, or a young manchego on the side.
- Cold meats
- Chorizo or lacón in the filling instead of tuna, or a plate of jamón served alongside.
- Seafood
- Tuna, cockles, mussels, sardines or octopus — the empanada takes all of them.
- Salads & vegetables
- A sharp green salad with onion and vinegar, or ensaladilla rusa, to cut the pastry.
Keep cooking
