Empanadas Saltenas

This is a recipe Aaron got in Argentina. There are tons of different ways to make these. We tend to use this recipe with either ground beef or chicken. I included a link for the pastry. In TX there was a little Argentine shop/cafe that sold the pre-made pastries. We haven't found one here. It took a VERY long time to make the dough, roll it our, cut it and fill and seal them. But they are so worth it!

About 2 lbs grounds beef or chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
2 onions, minced
1-2 red peppers, chopped
1 Tbsp. oregano
2-4 Tbsp. cumin (according to spicy preference)
4 medium boiled potatoes, diced
4-6 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 small (5.75 oz) jar green olives (with or without pimento), diced
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, cook beef or chicken in a little olive oil. Add onions, and peppers (add hot peppers too, if desired). Cook until vegetables are tender. Add oregano and cumin.
Stir in potatoes, eggs, and green olives; heat through.
Place about 2 Tbsp of filling on half of the pastry circle. Dampen the edge of half the circle with moistened fingertip (dip it in a little water). Fold pastry over top of filling and seal well with fingers, pinching it together. You can press a fork around the edge to seal it, but we like to make twists in the pastry all the way around. I should have taken a picture.
Place on ungreased baking sheet. Repeat for remaining dough and filling. Brush tops with slightly beaten egg whites. Bake at 350 F for about 25-30 minutes. They will brown slightly.

For the pastry shell recipe go here.

This recipe made about 4 1/2 dozen empanadas, so feel free to reduce it, and use a different pastry dough - since it only takes one egg. Someone will have to eat the remaining green olives (or omit them if you don't like them.) Some people add peas, but Aaron doesn't like peas in his.