I have a shopping day planned with the girls (and cousin Phil) at Woodbury Commons and I wanted to pack a little treat for my friends. We have a long car ride ahead of us and then we’ll need lots of energy to power shop! I thought something like an empanada would be nice. It had to be a no-utensils-required kinda thing.

Pockets Cooling 2

As I debated over what type of filling to make, I remembered the delicious Wine-Braised Beef Shanks Lon made the other night. The meal had conveniently left us some very tasty veggies, actually the most delicious mixture! Think about it, leeks, carrots, parsnips, and butternut squash, braised with wine and beefy goodness. Because Winnie loves potatoes, I decided to hop on over to the farmer’s market and grab German Butterball potatoes to throw in.

Pockets Cooling 1

Left-over Pockets
~makes 12 pieces

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe Empanada Dough
  • 1 3/4 cup left-overs*
  • 8 ounces German Butterball potatoes, peeled, small dice
  • 1/2 cup water (if needed)
  • kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Instructions

1. Make empanada dough and allow to chill. (It’s better if you can allow it to chill more than 1 hour.)

Leftover Stew Cooking Potatoes into Stew

2. In a large pan, heat left-overs and potatoes on medium low heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, adding water as needed. You don’t want the mixture to burn but you don’t want it to be too wet. Check to see if potatoes are tender. If not, continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Season to taste and remove from heat, allow to cool.

Stuffing Dough 1

3. Divide dough into 12 pieces. Keep unused pieces covered while working on each piece. Roll out to 5″ rounds (about 1/8″ thick). Fill with 2 tablespoons of filling. Seal edges however you like. Make all 12 the same way.

Egg-Washed Pockets

4. Place on a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F while pockets are chilling. When they’re ready, brush with egg wash. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Assembled Pocket 2 Pocket Cooling 3

I’ve never liked left-overs this much before!

Inside a Pocket

posted by jessica at 12:53 PM Filed under Inventive, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.