Chicken Empanadas

Ingredients

• 0.5 cube fresh yeast
• 160 ml lukewarm milk (3.5% fat)
• 1 pinch raw cane sugar
• 300 g spelt flour type 630 (+ 1 tbsp for handling)
• Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 225 g soft butter
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 1 handful young spinach (15 g)
• 0.5 bunch Parsley (10 g)
• 1 tsp Mustard
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• Pepper
• 2 onions
• 100 g mushrooms
• 100 g black olives (pitted)
• 250 g Chicken breast fillet
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 1 pinch smoked paprika powder

Instructions

1. 1.

   Crush the yeast and mix with milk and sugar. Combine flour with a pinch of salt in a bowl, make a well in the center. Separate eggs; set aside egg whites and one yolk. Add one yolk, 75 g butter, and the yeast mixture to the flour; knead into a smooth dough. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise for about an hour.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile, for the dip, peel and chop two garlic cloves. Wash spinach and parsley, pat dry, and remove leaves from stems. Roughly chop both, then pulse with garlic, remaining butter, mustard, and lemon juice in a food processor until coarse. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl.

3. 3.

   For the filling, finely dice onions and the remaining garlic. Clean mushrooms and slice thinly. Roughly chop olives.

4. 4.

   Trim the chicken, pat dry, and cube it. Heat oil in a pan. Sauté the chicken over medium heat for 3–4 minutes. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, and olives; cook together for 3 more minutes. Deglaze with vinegar and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.

5. 5.

   Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 3 mm thickness and cut into eight circles. Place filling in the center of each circle, brush edges with egg white, fold into half‑moons, and press the seams with a fork. Beat the remaining yolk with 1–2 tbsp water and brush over the pastries. Arrange on parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C (180 °C fan; gas: level 3) for 15–20 minutes.

6. 6.

   Serve the Chicken Empanadas with the dip on a platter.