At The Hispanic Food Network, one of our favorite Latinas in the kitchen is Chef Zee. This girl is smoking hot in so many ways. We caught up with Chef Zee on her YouTube page, where she was making her Dominican-style Chicken Empanadas (Pastelitos de Pollo.)
Dominican Style Empanadas
Loaded with tender chicken breast and lots of Latin spices, these mouth-watering Dominican chicken empanadas are absolutely packed with flavor!
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 onion
- ¼ cup red and green bell peppers
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves mashed
- 1 tbsp olives optional
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1/8 tbsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Oregano
- ½ tbsp Sazon seasoning
- 1 Lime
- Olive Oil
- Black Pepper to taste
- Kosher salt if needed
- Empanada Dough
- Canola or Vegetable Oil for Frying
- All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Start off by seasoning the chicken with green and red peppers, mashed up garlic. Then add some oregano, a touch of cumin, sazon, light kosher soy sauce and some fresh black pepper. You can then add a sprinkle of your favorite seasoning salt. Add some olive oil to bring this marinade together. Then add the fresh lime!
- MIX EVERYTHING FOR 20 MINUTES.
- Mix all the ingredients until they’re well combined. You can even set this overnight for even more amazing flavors!
- READY TO COOK
- Set your flame to medium high. Put some olive oil into your pan – then add the chicken and make sure it browns evenly. Keep in mind you want to cut the pieces of chicken medium size so they fit inside the empanadas. Once the chicken is browned, add some the water that’s left over from the marinade. This is when you stew the chicken and this is when the flavor really infuses! Once the sauce begins to bubble we want to add the tomato paste. As you stir the sauce – it will begin to thicken. Now it’s time to add the olives. This is optional but that’s the way Chef Zee likes it!
- TIME TO TAKE CHICKEN OUT OF PAN
- Now that the sauce has thickened, take your chicken out. The chicken is going to be used as your empanada filling. You can shred your chicken with tongs or two forks. You choose the method. The toughest part of this process is making sure you don’t eat the chicken! Once your chicken is shredded you will gently place it back into your sauce. At this point, your sauce should be pretty thick. This is a good thing. You don’t want sauce oozing out of your empanada.
- LET’S MAKE THE EMPANADAS!
- Throw some all-purpose flour onto your work surface. Now roll out your empanada disk. Chef Zee likes it on the thinner side. This makes the empanada light and fluffy. Next add your chicken. Make sure you’re generous! Fold the dough over and do it pretty hard. Put some water along the edge is a trick to keep the dough together! Use a fork to make those classic indentations! You can use a pizza cutter to get a perfect shape! This makes your empanada look nice and uniformed.
- FRY YOUR EMPANADAS
- Place your empanadas into hot oil and make sure you keep a close eye on them! Fry until they’re golden brown. Once they’re perfect take them out. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel!
Video
When you get a chance check out her Instagram page. You’ll love this New York-born chica with the gift for cooking up amazing Hispanic dishes.
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