paleo empanada

Paleo oxtail empanadas

You can have your Paleo empanada and eat it too!

As you may have noticed I’ve been playing around with yuca lately. What makes yuca so compelling is it’s ability to make and bake into a perfect dough. This revelation has me experimenting with making Paleo versions of my favorite non Paleo dishes.

Empanadas are a cross between a dumpling and a savory turnover. They hail from South American countries like Argentina and Peru. The are sooooo yum, and no longer off limits for my diet.

This was one of my first attempts at using yuca as dough and I was a bit skeptical that it would work. So I added mashed sweet potato to the dough recipe because it seemed more substantial and familiar. I have plenty of experience cooking with sweet potato.

Yuca is extremely starchy (starchier than sweet potato) and is the tuber that tapioca flour is made from. If you have every worked with tapioca you know how sticky it can be and what a good binder it is in baked goods.

I’ve always used eggs as the binding agent in dough, but you don’t need to add any when using yuca. You can form a beautiful dough from just mashed yuca and a little bit of oil. Hard to believe but true!

That’s why yuca has become the go to veggie for anyone on a gut-healing Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP).

You can stuff your empanadas with whatever you wan, veggies, cheese, leftover meat. I had braised oxtail on hand after making broth. So I made oxtail empanadas. Highly recommended, but you can use ground beef instead.

DOUGH Ingredients

3/4 cup of mashed or shredded yucca Find fresh Whole Yuca Root here.

3/4 cup of sweet potato, mashed

2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut flour

1 tablespoon of arrowroot flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of oil. I used avocado oil. (Get avocado oil here).

Optional: 1 egg (this will give it a fluffier texture but is not necessary to hold this dough together).

Filling iNgredientS

Slow cooked oxtail (braised in a slow cooker for 24 hours from making broth)

Optional: Peppers (I used Shishito peppers but you can use hot pepper or bell peppers) leave out for an autoimmune paleo dish.

Optional: 1/4 of an onion, diced.

Salt and spices to taste. I used salt, cumin, cayenne and smoked paprika. (for an autoimmune Paleo diet use salt, garlic and oregano)

Paloe empanada

How to

Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl by hand or use a hand mixer. You can also mix the dough in a food processor.

Stick the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to let it firm up. Stick in the freezer for 20 minutes if you are rushed for time.

Take out the chilled dough, wet your hands and roll the dough into small balls. Flatten each dough ball by hand, or by using a rolling pin or tin can (top the dough with a sheet of parchment, wax paper or plastic wrap before you roll over it). I used my hands to flatten the dough.

In a pan, saute onions and pepper in cooking fat of choice. Add in oxtail (shredded with a fork off the bone).

Sprinkle the ingredients with salt and spices and saute until the oxtail is warm, shredding further with your spatula as you saute it). You can also use ground beef for the filling.

Put the oxtail mixture on half of the empanada dough rounds (see photo above)

Fold the empty half of the dough over the side with the filling and pinch the edge of the dough together to form the empanada pockets.

Cook the empanadas at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.

I did two batches. The first batch came out perfect. The second batch, the dough fell apart, probably because it had begun to warm up and soften. This is probably because the sweet potato doesn’t stick together as well as the yuca, but adds an amazing sweet flavor.

Both batches were a success but the fist batch was a lot prettier.

The perfect batch….

paleo empanada

Paleo empanada

The not so perfect BATCH

If the dough falls apart you can sort of “glue” the dough on with your hands. It will solidify and stay in together as it cooks.

Don’t be afraid of ugly ducking empanadas like the one below, it tasted just as good as the perfect ones.

empanada

Paleo oxtail empanadas
 
You would never know that these savory turnovers are made with starchy veggies because they taste so much like the real thing. Stuff them with your favorite fillings.
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer or main course
Cuisine: South American (Peruvian/Argentinian)
Ingredients
  • DOUGH:
  • ¾ cup of mashed or shredded yucca Fresh Whole Yuca Root 5lb
  • ¾ cup of sweet potato, mashed
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of coconut flour
  • 1 tablespoon of arrowroot flour
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • Optional: 1 egg (this will give it a fluffier texture but it completely unnecessary to hold this dough together).
  • FILLING:
  • Slow cooked oxtail (braised in a slow cooker for 24 hours from making broth)
  • Optional: Peppers (I used Shishito peppers but you can use hot pepper or bell peppers) leave out for a Paleo autoimmune dish.
  • Optional: ¼ of an onion, diced.
Instructions
  1. Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl by hand or use a hand mixer. You can also mix the dough in a food processor.
  2. Stick the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to let it firm up
  3. Take out the chilled dough, wet your hands and roll the dough into small balls. Flatten each dough ball by hand, or by using a rolling pin or tin can (top the dough with a sheet of parchment, wax paper or plastic wrap before you roll over it). I used my hands to flatten the dough.
  4. In a pan, saute onions and pepper in cooking fat of choice. Add in oxtail (shredded with a fork off the bone).
  5. Sprinkle the ingredients with salt and saute until the oxtail is warm, shredding further with your spatula as you saute it). You can also use ground beef for the filling.
  6. Put the oxtail mixture on half of the empanada dough rounds.
  7. Fold the empty half of the dough over the filling and pinch the edge of the dough together to form the empanada.
  8. Cook the empanadas at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.
  9. I did two batches. The first batch came out perfect. The second batch, the dough fell apart, probably because it had begun to warm up and soften. Both batches were a success but the fist batch was a lot prettier.

 

header50s


DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: Some of the links in my blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: Some of the links in my blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. I only endorse products that align with the ideals of Healy Eats Real and that I believe would be of value to my readers. FDA DISCLOSURE: Information and statements regarding health claims on this blog have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Tags: , , ,