Empanada

This recipe is an accompaniment for Potato, Pepper, and Chorizo Empanadas .

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

When buying the dried chile for this recipe, be aware that a pasilla de Oaxaca is not the same as a regular pasilla chile. The former is smoked and has a very distinct flavor.

The empanadas can be put together ahead of time and popped into the oven to bake just before serving.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr Don't use water-packed tuna for this recipe — it's too bland for the filling. Tuna packed in olive oil, however, will make for empanaditas that taste genuine. Especially with a glass of Fino Sherry.

This is a terrific make-ahead appetizer. The steak must be coated with the spice rub and chilled overnight before grilling, then the empanadas can be assembled completely one day before baking.

Sausage and Potato Mini-Turnovers The dough for these little turnovers may be pressed either by hand or with a tortilla press.

These crisp turnovers are traditionally enclosed in pastry dough. Making and rolling out the dough can be quite time-consuming, so potsticker wrappers are used in this recipe instead.

The filling of these savory Latin pastries, served at Café Iguana, in Denver, Colorado, is accented with chilies, raisins and almonds.

This may be an unusual combination of ingredients and flavors for empanadas, but the pairing of cabbage, blue cheese, and walnuts is a classic that makes a wonderful cold-weather dish. While these empanadas would serve as a delicious and hearty vegetarian main course with the addition of rice and beans, I love these flavors with pork.