squash empanada

squash empanada
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

This is not a traditional side dish but it turned out very tasty. In many latin american cuisines the fried empanada is prevalent. I made the kids some beef and pork meat empanadas for dinner, but decided to make some less traditional side dishes for our date night dinner. I figured to use some leftover squash to fill the empanadas.

I started with some store bought Goya empanadilla shells



I cooked some butternut squash with corn, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a sauce pan till soft.



I then overstuffed the pastry with the filling



The empanada was then fried and kept warm in the oven





The result was a very mild flavor, with a good crunch from the pastry. It was served with a grilled steak, heavy on the seasoning to balance the mild squash empanada. We thought it was very good.