Turkey Empanadas with Mint Sour Cream Sauce

Eating the empanada at the Dupont farmers market inspired me to try and make my own for the first time. Days I sat, pondering over what ingredients I would use for the stuffing and it finally came to me. I wanted something refreshing and not too heavy due to the high temperatures but at the same time, would fill me up and keep me satisfied.

Using my pallet, I made this recipe in hopes it would turn out as wonderful as I imagined. And boy did it! Give a try!

Turkey Empanadas with Mint Sour Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked ground turkey
• 1 ½ cups chopped mint (divided)
• 1chopped mango
• ½ cup goat cheese
• 1 1/2 17.3-ounce packages frozen puff pastry (3 sheets), thawed
• 1 egg white, beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon cold water (for glaze)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 lemon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a large bowl, mix in cooked turkey, half of the mint and chopped mango.
• Cut each pastry sheet into fours.
• Spoon on roughly 4 table spoons of the filling onto the center of each pastry square and top with a tablespoon of goat cheese.
• Grab two opposite corners of the pastry dough and pinch above the filling. Holding on to that, slowly pinch down each side of the dough until the filling is in the center and you’re left with a large triangle. Use a fork to pinch the seam shut and cut a hole in the top of each empanada to release steam.
• Paint each empanada with the egg white glaze and bake for 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, the remaining mint, lemon zest and a pinch of salt.

The simple mint sour cream sauce really made the mint in the empanadas pop out. It was a perfect combination of sweet and salty combined with the crunchiness of the puffed pastry. I noticed, that no matter what I did, the puffed pastry wouldn’t stay together at the seams but not much of the filling leaked out and the light texture of the pastry married well with these refreshing ingredients. Bon appétit!