Empanadillas...WEPA!

• TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein): We use Bob’s Red Mill brand that you can find at most health food stores, but you can use any plant based ground meat substitute!
• Sofrito: is basically a combination of herbs and spices. (Some family recipes gotta remain a secret!) Feel free google recipes that fit your personal flavor profile, but we’ve attached a link here to one that you can try out!
• Potatoes
• Can of Diced Tomatoes
• Tomato Paste
• Simply Organic Mild Taco Simmer Sauce (or any other brand of your liking)
• Green Olives

To taste:

• Sazon**
• Adobo**
• Salt & Pepper

For the shell you will need:

• Uncooked flour tortillas: We used Guerrero Fresqui-Ricas, but you can use whatever compliant brand you can find!

Time to prep the filling! Traditionally, you would season a meat, but in Vegan cooking when you are using Textured Vegetable Protein or TVP, it needs to be re-hydrated. The re-hydration broth is the most important part of the process. It must be flavorful and seasoned enough to carry the taste of the dish. This is an important step that many people don’t realize so you have to train yourself to work backwards! We’ll start by sauteing the sofrito, olives, and finely diced potatoes in your preferred saute method (olive oil, vegetable oil, or water saute). Since we were already going to use vegetable oil to fry these bad boys up, we chose a vegetable oil saute. Again, your preference here!

Once the potatoes are tender, add in can of diced tomatoes with the juice and tomato paste, add in your Sazon, green olives, and your taco sauce and bring to a simmer. Your broth needs to have enough liquid to re-hydrate the TVP. If you notice that there is not enough liquid to re-hydrate, add water one cup at a time until it looks like below.

Don’t worry, the TVP will absorb the broth…remember we’re cooking backwards here! Continue to simmer. Now it’s time to taste the broth and season it. Add salt, pepper, and Adobo to taste. The broth should be seasoned heavier than what you would normally be accustomed to because the potatoes and TVP will absorb some of that flavor. We tend to season to our liking and then add a little more! This broth should taste a little salty to you. For beginners, if you’re unsure of the level of salt to use, don’t fret, you can always add more later. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Stirring continuously, add TVP one cup at a time until it’s fully incorporated. Reduce to a simmer until liquid is absorbed. Taste filling and adjust seasonings if necessary. *If you think your filling is missing anything, feel free to add cumin, or even a store bought taco seasoning packet to really kick it up a notch. Everyone’s taste is a little different when it comes to Latin cooking; let your taste-buds be your guide! Once perfectly seasoned, set aside to cool.

Time to assemble: grab a small bowl of cold water. Fill uncooked tortilla with one scoop of cooled filling.

Rim the outside of the tortilla with water, fold tortilla over filling while pressing out air to create a pocket for the filling. Seal by crimping or folding the edges. As you can see we each of put our own spin on it! (add photo of crimp process)

Once the empandiallas are filled, it’s time to fry! You can either deep-fry or pan-fry these in the frying oil of your choice. We chose to deep-fry in vegetable oil because why not! We’re sure you could bake these or air-fry them as well, just be sure to brush them in a bit of oil first so that it gets a nice golden crust on it!

Enjoy!