Portuguese Fried Codfish "Empanadas"

I come from a Portuguese background so the first recipe I want to add to my blog is straight from Portugal. My boyfriends mother (Thanks Filomena!) makes these delicious little treats- in Portuguese we call them "Rissois"- but they look like empanadas, so that's what I'll call them. In this recipe she used salted codfish (used a lot in Portuguese cuisine) for the filling but the great part about these things is that you can fill them with anything!

 Here are some alternatives for the filling:

-Cheese, Pizza sauce, Pepperoni

-Slow cooked pork, BBQ Sauce, Onions, Cheese

-Chicken, Cheese, Green Chilis, Sour Cream

-Bacon, Cheese, Scrambled Eggs

These are just a few ideas- or you can get creative and make your own filling!

Here's what you'll need for the Fried Codfish Empanadas:

Codfish Filling:                                                    

2 Cups of cooked, salted codfish

1 Medium sized white Onion, diced
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 Eggs
1/2 Cup of Milk
2 Tsp of Flour

2 Tbsp of fresh Parsley, finely chopped

1/4 Tsp of Nutmeg

2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 Tsp of crushed Red Pepper 

Empenada Crust:
3 Cups of Flour
2 1/2 Cups of Water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp of Salt

To make Filling:

1.) Take cooked Codfish and put in food processor, shred completely. Set aside.

2.)Use a large sized pot and turn heat to medium/high. Add olive oil, allow to heat. Add the onion and saute in olive oil for 3-4 minutes (do not caramelize). Add the minced garlic and chopped parsley and saute for a 3 more minutes.

3.) Turn heat to low. Take shredded codfish and add to the mixture, mix all ingredients thoroughly.

4.) Take seperate bowl and mix eggs, milk and flour. Stir together.

5.) Slowly add the milk, flour and egg mixture to the large pot containing the codfish, onion, garlic,  etc. stirring frequently.

6.) Stir in nutmeg and crushed red peppers. Continue stirring all ingredients for 5-7 minutes- do not allow to burn! Remove from heat and set aside.

The filling should not be runny at all and should easily be formed into little balls. (If you scroll down you will see a picture of the mixture being added to the raw empanada crust- sorry forgot to take a pictures during the filling making process!)

Empanada Crust:

1.) Add flour, water, olive oil and salt in medium sized bowl. Mix with hands for 2-3 minutes or until all ingredients are incorporated. Dough will be sticky!

2.) On a clean surface, sprinkle some flour and place dough on surface. 

 Continue kneading the dough for 2-3 more minutes.

3.) Take half of dough and roll it out with a rolling pin.

4.) We had one of these Empanada/Pasta cutters, but you can use a cup or anything circular that is about 3 1/2- 4 inches in diameter (you may have to put extra flour throughout this process- this dough is sticky!). Take leftover dough, re-roll it out and continue cutting out circles until there is no more dough left.

 5.) Take a circle cutout and add about 1 tbsp of mixture to center of dough.

6.) Pinch dough over creating a half circle. If you don't have one of these Empanada/Pasta folders then just use a fork to pinch the edges to ensure the filling will not escape during the frying process.

7.) Take large pan and add oil until it reaches about 1/4 of the way up. Heat oil on low/medium setting. Once oil is ready add empanadas to pan and fry about 3 minutes each side. 

 

If the oil is too hot the empanadas will burn easily. Be sure to constantly check the first batch to ensure the temperature is correct.

8.) Once fried, place empenadas on paper towel to collect excess oil. Here is the finished product! (Makes about 40 empanadas- we had eaten a few before this picture was taken!!)

These babies are delicious on their own but if you love your sauces as much as I do, feel free to serve with any type of dipping sauce- ranch is always a favorite for me :) Enjoy!

****This is my first ever recipe blog- if you have any feedback or tips to make this better or easier to read please feel free to leave a comment below!***