Empanada Gallega (Galician Pork and Pepper Pie)

Being a fan of Galician food, I was quick to give this recipe a try when I found it. It's really an excellent pie and very true to it's origins. I only made two variations in the recipe. One, because I had it, I substituted red wine for the recommended white. And two, since I don't like to make dough, I used a pre-made pie crust for the empanada shell. It was perhaps because of this that I needed to bake my pie a full 40 minutes to golden brown instead of 30. Otherwise, this is a great recipe for this tasty, savory Spanish pie.

I've made this likely over 20 times, and will make likely another 100+. Savory and flavorful, however it is a bit of effort so it's often a Sunday night treat. It leaves great left overs too. I stay true to the recipe, but use a 13x9 baking dish vs the two rounds.

I liked this...it's not super fancy and the crust could be better/more empanada-like (reminded me of refrigerated biscuit dough), but it is very homey and reminds me of something my mom made when I was a kid (very comfort food-y). As with all cookinglight recipes, it needed tons of salt added to the filling (keep tasting the filling until it is up to par...I also needed to add a couple of dashes of cayenne pepper to give it some flavor). I used ground pork tenderloin. Tasty with the additions- better the second day and at room temperature (as the recipe says).

I used pizza crust (note: maybe by two - it makes a ton of filling to use one cut in half). I agree with LynnMD...ground pork will probably work better.

I've made this twice now and it's been delicious both times. The second time I modified the crust, including about 1/3 wheat pastry flour and no egg, it was still delicious. I also make it with ground pork instead of tenderloin. Though I'm sure it's delicious with tenderloin my husband and I both like it with ground pork. I will definitely make this dish again and again and again!