More Empanadas!

Dear Turkey,

Yesterday was a special occasion: Empanadas Part Dos. Yes, I ate all of the other ones already. This time, little sister Veggie Nugget and I made enough filling for about 100 wrappers. We still made the old standby flavor, and we added two other flavors (I invented them yesterday morning while I was waiting for my oil change [I do some of my best thinking and writing at the car place]). 

As you know, when you make empanadas, you need to start with:

the obligatory ingredients picture.

The first filling:

Cut up three big sweet potatoes and drizzle them with plenty of oil and salt. Roast them at 450 degrees until very tender and starting to brown. Mash them up (with the skin) with one small bunch sage (minced), 16 oz sour cream, and about 1 c diced shallots and garlic sauteed in lots of oil and salt (I just cooked a bunch of it and then split it three ways for each filling).

Beautiful sage. You can see what a lazy mincer I am. 

 Second filling:

While you have the oven on, cube and roast 2 lbs of butternut squash (with plenty of salt and oil) until browning and very soft. Combine with about 2 c of cubed queso blanco, juice of one lemon, 3 regular-size cans of black beans (rinsed and drained), some more sauteed shallots and garlic, and several T cumin.

Stuff and bake on parchment on a stone at 375 degrees for about 20 mins -- until golden brown.

A note about the spinach filling: I simplified it this time and I liked it better. I also think that the spinach didn't get overcooked this way. After sauteing the shallots and garlic in plenty of oil and salt, I removed 2/3 of it for the other fillings. Then I added 2 lbs of frozen spinach, 24 oz cottage cheese, and the juice of one lemon. I just warmed it until the spinach was thawed. This filling was a little liquid-y, which made it harder to stuff, but it was worth it. 

My freezer is happy now. 

There are so many other kinds of empanadas that I want to try, like hash browns/eggs/salsa, and pear/nutella, but my freezer is full. My breast milk collection is feeling very cramped in there.

I moss you,
Tofu