Middle Eastern Ground Turkey Empanadas Food

TURKEY AND BLACK BEAN EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine turkey, black beans, both cheeses, salsa, cilantro, and cumin. Mix well to combine.
• Unroll pie crusts onto a flat surface. Using 4-inch cutter, cut out 6 circles. Divide turkey mixture into equal portions and place each portion (in mounds) on top of the pie crusts. Fold over and pinch the edges together to seal. Using a fork, make hash marks on the edges of the empanadas to ensure they are sealed. Transfer empanadas to a large baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make small slits in the top of each empanada to allow steam to escape during cooking. Brush with egg wash and place into preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

MIDDLE EASTERN GROUND TURKEY EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Remove discos from freezer to defrost. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Brown ground turkey in skillet, drain fat.
• Add green onion, onion, red pepper, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until soft. Add salt, spices, tomato paste and water. If you have no tomato paste, you can use some tomato sauce. If you have no baharat, you can substitute with a small amount of clove, cardamom, coriander, and nutmeg (or leave it out if you prefer). When filling has been sufficiently mixed, remove from heat.
• Take a disco from the packaging and place it on a piece of wax paper. Put a tablespoon or two of filling on one side. (You can use refrigerated biscuit dough or frozen pie crust if you cannot find discos, but you may need to adjust baking time and temp.) Seal edges using fork tines to go around the edge on the top and bottom of empanada. Then set aside on plate in fridge. Repeat this with the rest of the discos until all filling is gone.
• Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and lay the empanadas on the sheet. Brush tops of empanadas with beaten egg, for gloss. Bake empanadas ten minutes or until golden brown. Then bake second batch same way.

TURKEY EMPANADAS GRANDE

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute turkey, garlic, onion, and green pepper until turkey is no longer pink in center. Stir in parsley, cilantro, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat about 15 minutes or until most the liquid is reduced.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Spray cookie sheet with non-stick oil. Unfold one pie crust on one side of cookie sheet. Carefully spread one half of meat mixture to within 1-inch of one-half pie crust. Brush 1 inch of pie crust with egg white. Encase meat by folding other half of pie crust over meat mixture. Using a fork, press edges of crust together and pierce top of crust to make holes to allow steam to escape.
• Repeat steps with remaining ingredients and pie crust on other side of cookie sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees F. 20 to 25 minutes. To serve, cut each empanada into 3 wedges.