Mini Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Empanadas
These past few weeks have kind of been a whirlwind. The weather has been unreal and I'm ready for the snow to stop. I feel like all I do is deal with snow. So I have been spending time inside playing with my wonderful Christmas present from my wonderful husband. A digital SLR camera, so be expecting hopefully better quality pictures. So while its really cold and snowy outside I am dreaming of warmer weather. So I made a batch of empanadas because they remind me of warm weather, parties outside and sangria. All of which sound much better that shoveling more snow. So I used some of my wonderful Chardonnay Salt from Lords of Salt. I normally enjoy these with wine so I figured why not use the Chardonnay salt. They tasted the best they ever have a fantastic hint of wine flavor, I didn't miss the glass of wine at all. Ok maybe I did a little.
Mini Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Empanadas
2 large onions
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of chardonnay salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
7 oz of goat cheese
4 refrigerated pie crusts, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon of water
2 tablespoons of chardonnay salt for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and slice the onions in half and then make slices vertically down the halved onion to make petals. Cook the onions over low heat in a sauté pan with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Pour the warm onions over the goat cheese and stir to combine. Unroll the pie crusts and cut out 3 inch rounds, reroll scraps one time to cut out more rounds. In the center of each round place a teaspoon of filling. Mix together the egg and water and brush the egg wash on the edges of the round and seal the edges. After they have been sealed crimp the edges with a fork to make sure they are closed. Sprinkle liberally with chardonnay salt. Place the empanadas about an inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until they are lightly golden. Serve warm.
The can also be made ahead and frozen before you bake them. Place the empanadas on parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze until they are firm and then store in freezer bags. They can be baked straight from the freezer just sprinkle with the salt and bake for a few minutes longer.
If you would like to get some Chardonnay Salt of your own it can be found HERE.And Please vote for my Keep the Doctor Away Drink. Click Here to Vote!
