Being back in Blighty and having a lunchtime hankering for one I decided to create one that could stand up to any of the traditional versions I had tried before. Looking online at recipes it appeared they have the basic ingredients right, but none of the recipes I found were technically correct based on my extensive experience.

You see just throwing the ingredients in to a pastry envelope just won’t cut it for me. Also I wanted to put my twist on this classic bringing a British touch to this Spanish classic. I have options for the old school style but try it my way…trust me it’s good

This delicious snack is best prepared with a little time, so get your aprons on, prepare to get a little messy and let’s get on with my recipe. You’re gonna love it!

Empanada de ‘addock

Serves 3

Ingredients

• 180g x Fresh Smoked Haddock*
• 1 x Medium Onion
• 1 x Medium Green Bell Pepper**
• 3 x Regular Fresh Tomatoes
• 1 x Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
• 2 x Tablespoons Good Olive Oil
• 1 x Good Pinch of Sea Salt
• 1 x Good Pinch of Black Pepper
• 1 x Pack of Shortcrust Pastry
• 1 x Egg

* You can use any white fish or tuna fresh or canned (the classic in Spain uses canned!)

** The classic recipe uses red bell pepper

Method

Dice up your onion and pepper into small cubes then put into your frying pan with the olive oil. Fry on a medium high heat and keep them moving in the pan so they don’t catch.

After about five minutes test a piece of pepper and if it has lost its raw taste and texture turn of the heat and remove one third of the mixture to a bowl and set aside. If they still taste a little too fresh and crunchy keep testing every minute or so until they are ready.

Take you tomatoes deseed them and roughly chop, then add them to the pan and get the heat back on medium high.

Keep stirring as we want to remove the liquid and get those tomatoes frying. See all that steam? That’s them boiling. When the tomatoes, onions and peppers start to fry we will get some caramelisation happening giving you wonderful flavour.

After about 6-7 minutes or once the tomatoes have lost about 50% of their volume and have an orange/yellow tinge, take them off the heat.

Let the mix cool down while your get your blender out. Once touch cool add them to the blender with a splash of water to get the mix moving and blend into a thick liquid. Now add the mix back into the pan.

Now taste and season with a salt, black pepper and add your teaspoon of smoked paprika. Now cook this down on a medium heat until a thick paste is formed. Taste again and adjust seasoning if required.

NOTE: Some supermarket tomatoes aren’t that great, so feel free to add a tiny touch of sugar to sweeten the paste.

Let’s build empanadas!

Unroll your pastry on a floured board and cut out 18cm (7 inch) diameter discs. You should get at least three from a standard ready roll pack, though you will need to re-roll the offcuts from the first two discs.

Now spread some paste in the middle of each disc and sprinkle on one third of the fried onion and pepper you set aside earlier.

Chop your fish into ½ cm square pieces and divide evenly between the empanadas.

Whisk up and egg to make a wash and brush all the way round the edge of the disc. Fold in half and seal the edge using your finger or the prongs of a fork.

Use the remaining egg wash to glaze the tops of your empanadas.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180C (350F or Gas Mark 4) for 20 mins or until golden brown.

Now eat and enjoy!

That haddock with the paprika gives a double hit of smoky goodness which matches perfectly with the sweetness of the tomato, pepper and onion mix. I think you’ll agree a little British touch to this Spanish snack can make a world of difference in the taste department.

Please remember to tell me how this recipe worked out for you in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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