Giant Empanadas

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes with liquid, cut up
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 unbaked pie pastries (9 inches each)
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon of water
Toppings: Sour cream, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, olives, etc

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a skillet, brown beef. Add onion and green pepper. Drain.

3. Stir in tomatoes and seasonings. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. , stirring occasionally.

4. Divide filling; Place pie pastries on a prepared (spray with cooking spray) baking sheet.

5. Spoon the filling on one half of the pastry, spreading to 1 inch of the edge (DO NOT GO RIGHT TO THE EDGE- IT WON’T SEAL).

6. Fold other half of pastry over filling and press to seal (you can use your fork). Using a fork pierce the top of the empanada. Repeat with the other pastry.

7. In a small bowl, beat egg yolk and water; brush over pastries.

8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.

9. Let cool for 5 minutes.

10. Cut into wedges to serve. Garnish with toppings.

Serves: 6

*To cut back on time and add more flavor use regular “diced” tomatoes or a “diced” Mexican blend tomato in place of whole tomatoes.
*You can use different ingredients to make it more individual.
*Also, empanadas are commonly found using a fruit filling instead of meat.
*These make excellent picnic foods!