In search of a new way to eat my dandelion greens (I’ve made dandelion pasta this season, along with dandelion pesto), I found a dandelion and goat cheese empanada recipe in the LA Times. Bitter greens with rich chevre is an obvious combination, and this recipe begged to be toyed with.
I added mushrooms, actually finely diced portabello mushroom stems, to the recipe since I planned to toss the stems anyway. I also used green garlic since the stalks (thankfully) keep showing up at market. Although the dandelion greens gave the little pastries a grown-up complexity, you could use almost any green as long as you tinkered with the cooking time.
With two blocks of chevre and a healthy 1/2 cup of Parmesan, the empanadas, not surprisingly, turned out to be super rich. And without a side dish (after the prep work, I was too lazy to make another), William and I ate an unbalanced but delicious dinner of empanadas. We both agreed, though, that these would work better as a side dish or starter. That’s why we saved four for the freezer—to bring some effortless green and serious calories to another meal.
Dandelion, Mushroom and Chevre Empanadas
Empanada Pastry (epicurious.com)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 stick, cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Egg wash (Beat 1 egg + a splash of water)
Empanada Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 stalk green garlic, thinly sliced or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup finely diced mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cups packed, chopped dandelion greens (about 1 big bunch)
8 ounces chevre
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
Instructions
For the dough, combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and blend with fingertips or a pastry blender. Work the dough until the flour and butter form pea-sized clumps. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, water, and vinegar. Pour liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until incorporated. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 2 to 3 times. Flatten dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (this can be made one day in advance).
For the filling, heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add onion, and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes more. Toss in mushrooms and red pepper flakes, and cook until all of the mushroom liquid has evaporated. Add greens, and cook just until wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in chevre, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 400°. To assemble the empanadas, divide dough into 12 pieces. One at a time, roll a piece of dough into a ball. On a floured surface, flatten the dough into a disk with a rolling pin. Roll until pastry is 1/8-inch thick and about 5 inches in diameter.
Fill the dough with 2 tablespoons dandelion-cheese mixture. Brush egg wash along half of the pastry’s border. Fold dough over the filling to enclose. Crimp edges with a fork, and set on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
Brush the tops of the empanadas with egg wash, place them in the oven, and bake for 25 minutes, until golden.
Makes 12 empanadas