Recipe: Pukacapas (Spicy Cheese Empanadas)

PUKACAPAS FROM BOLIVIA
(SPICY CHEESE EMPANADAS)

DOUGH INGREDIENTS:
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk or water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 egg yolks

DOUGH PREPARATION:
Sift all dry ingredients.

Add butter or margarine and mix very well using a spoon.

Beat yolks slightly and add them to the milk or water. Mix with the previous preparation. Knead slightly.

Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes, covered with a dish cloth or towel while the filling is prepared.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:
4 cups crumbled fresh cheese
3 cups white onion, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup green onion, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup ground red pepper
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 chili peppers, cut into thin strips and without seeds
2 green peppers, cut into thin strips and without seeds
1/4 cup tomato, finely chopped
10 black olives, cut in half and without seed
3 spoonfuls parsley, finely chopped
TO PAINT:
2 spoonfuls red pepper (to paint)
2 spoonfuls butter
2 spoonfuls water

In a large bowl, mix all filling ingredients.

FINAL PREPARATION:
Take a piece of dough and on a slightly flour-sprinkled table knead it and stretch it out until thin. Cut the dough into small round pieces.

Put a spoon of filling in the middle of a round piece.

Dampen the edge of the piece and cover it with another round piece. Fold the edges into small folds. Repeat the process with each round piece until finishing the dough.

Take care the filling does not arrive at the edges since they can burst once inside the oven.

Mix the two spoonfuls of red pepper, with the two spoonfuls of butter and two spoonfuls of water. Cook the mixture slightly and paint each pukacapa using a brush before placing them in the oven.

Place pukacapas in a non-sticking baking sheet Bake them at a high temperature (American oven: 482 degrees Fahrenheit; European oven: 250 degrees Celsius) for twenty minutes.

Serve them warm.