Meat pie

How to make a meat pie . One of the most classic Galician empanada recipes is without a doubt the meat empanada .

Perhaps along with the bonito empanada , and the cod empanada, the meat empanada, it is among the essentials in supermarkets and bakeries.

Despite being a very common preparation pie, at home it is the one we consume the least when it is time to buy it outside. It is easy to buy a meat pie in Galicia, but buying a really rich meat pie, with the tender and juicy meat, I am no longer so clear about it.

For this reason, making a homemade meat pie is a double luxury, on the one hand, getting an empanada dough made by oneself, at home, and on the other, making a quality meat pie, tasty juicy and with a yummy flavor.

For me, part of the secret of this empanada is in the choice of meat. I always use Galician veal meat , and specifically veal needle. This area of ​​the veal will be especially juicy thanks to the streaks of fat it has. Another of the strong points of this empanada is the chorizo. Although it is not necessary, the chorizo ​​contributes a point of flavor to the filling that will make your empanada a luxurious snack.

There are as many empanadas as there are kinds of ingredients involved in the filling. From the famous octopus empanada  , with  raxo or loin , the cheap sardine empanada, the special of  zamburiñas , with  tuna belly  or  chicken , … even as a dessert, like this apple empanada .  

It is true that making homemade empanada requires a certain time, a couple of hours will not be taken away by anyone, the result cannot be better. We can enjoy at home with ours a great Galician meat pie first.

Preparation of the empanada filling. Meat companion

1. In a frying pan, heat a splash of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the julienned onion, the chopped garlic cloves and the red pepper cut into small cubes. Fry the vegetables until they are soft.
2. We remove the skin from the chorizo ​​and cut it into small cubes.
3. We clean the veal meat removing the remains of fat and the ribs of this part of the veal. The veal needle is a very juicy meat, perfect for this type of preparation. Chop the meat into small cubes.
4. Add the chorizo ​​to the casserole and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the beef, salt and brown for 5 or 6 minutes. It is important not to overcook meat at this point.
5. We must bear in mind that the meat will continue cooking in the oven. If we deep fry the meat in this step, it could be very hard in the final result.
6. We remove the pan from the heat and put the filling to drain to remove the juice and oil that it has. This juice is the one that we will use to make the empanada dough. We reserve the filling until the moment of using it.

Preparation of the pie. Baking and final presentation

1. We divide the empanada dough into two parts and stretch the first one on a floured surface, with the help of a rolling pin. We will stretch the dough until it covers an area equivalent to that of the oven source, which is what we are going to use.
2. We transfer the dough to the oven tray, which we will have previously floured.
3. Add the meat filling, distributing it well over the entire surface. We must leave a free perimeter and then seal the dough.
4. We cover with the other half of the dough that we will stretch in the same way as the first. We seal the entire perimeter of the pie by rolling up the base with the dough cover.
5. With the tip of a knife we ​​open a “chimney” or hole in the center, so that the vapors can escape during baking.
6. We paint the empanada with beaten egg. With the leftover dough we can decorate the surface of the pie.
7. With the oven previously heated to 180º C, we bake the empanada for 40/45 minutes. Always with temperature up and down in the middle tray of the oven.
8. We remove the empanada from the oven and let it cool before serving. To make it more beautiful and shiny we can paint it with olive oil. Before serving it.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this meat pie recipe .  Do not miss any detail so that it comes out perfect.