Easy Sausage Empanadas | Latin-Inspired Hand Pies

directions

  1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, red bell pepper, garlic and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes until vegetables are just softened.
  2. Add sausage to the skillet with the vegetables and brown, breaking sausage up into small crumbles as it cooks.
  3. When sausage is browned, add in tomato paste, cumin and oregano. Stir until well blended. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Scrape mixture into a bowl. Set aside to cool.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Beat egg in a small bowl with a fork to make an egg wash.
  5. Cut circles out of both sheets of pie crusts using a 4 inch round biscuit cutter. If you don’t have one this size then place a bowl the same size upside down on the dough sheets and cut around the edge using a small knife. You can get 10 to 12 circles out of the dough. If you want you can gather up the scrapes and re-roll and cut to get a few more circles. Otherwise discard scrapes.
  6. Working on a flat surface, gently put about 1 generous teaspoon of sausage mixture in the center of a dough circle. Brush all around edge of circle with egg wash. Fold dough circle in half over the filling to create a half circle. Crimp edges of dough using a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining sausage mixture and dough. As you work place filled empanadas on the parchment lined baking sheet not touching.
  7. Brush each empanada with egg wash. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until puffy and golden brown.
5 - 6
servings
20 min
prep time
20 min
cook time

ingredients

1/2 lb Swaggerty’s Farm Bulk Sausage

2 tablespoon canola or olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley (can use curly as well)

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 box of refrigerator pie crusts (like Pillsbury with 2 in each box)

1 egg

To Serve

Serves 5 to 6 people, two empanadas per person. You can make ahead and freeze before baking to have on hand.