A pie for my love

Gareth loves a pie. He welcomes a pie from the oven like a lover in a new dress - a little whistle, a side look of lust. I never trust my ability to make pastry; sometimes my pies look more like an ill-fitting op-shop frock than designer threads, but none the less, my husband still pays his compliments for the effort sincerely made.

But! This time it really, really worked and she was so beautiful I had to take a photo of her.

Gareth bought me the Rick Stein's Spain cookbook as an anniversary gift (the gift that gives back) and so I made an empanada last week. My connection to Spanish cooking is long and impassioned - from the volatile year I spent working in the kitchen of the restaurant owned by my Spanish boyfriend with his mother - to my time cooking with the lovely Diana at her gorgeous tapas restaurant in Melbourne, De Los Santos.

Both experiences brought out what I called my inner mamma. I felt that the food of Spain required in the cooking a kind of inherent spirit, a Latin passion that guided your hands in the measuring and cutting and theatre of the kitchen. In these two all-female kitchens, we talked about love, we cried about the past, we sang to the radio, we sweated and cursed and laughed and worked our arses off. I loved it. I loved the food, which was a revelation of flavours to me, my experience so far being mostly of Italian and South-East Asian flavours. I was astounded at the mix of roasted squash with cumin, of squid with orange, of thick creamy butter beans with slow-cooked rabbit. I made potato tortilla everyday at  De Los Santos and could never resist eating a wedge warm with a slice of our home made bread.

So, anyway, perhaps it's no surprise that my empanada worked (and was admired and devoured by Gareth) - here's the recipe:

Empanada of tuna with tomatoes, peppers and pimenton
(Adapted from Rick Stein's Spain)


310g plain flour
3/4 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1/2 smoked paprika
125ml warm water
60ml olive oil
1 good egg, beaten to glaze
salt

For the filling:


3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 red pepper seeded and chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 400g can chopped tomato
250g best-quality tinned tuna in olive oil (I use Italian tuna, not the horrible grey mush from most supermarket brands)
A handful of green olives
Pepper

Method:

Make your dough by sifting the flour, yeast and paprika into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre.
Dissolve the yeast in the water and add to the dry ingredients untill a dough is formed.
Knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes until smooth.
Return to a clean bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour to rise.
For the filling, fry the onion, garlic, red pepper and pimento on a low heat for a long time (15 mins) until soft and sweet but not burnt.
Add the tomatoes and cook gently for a further 25 mins until the sauce is thick, not watery.
Add the tuna and olives to the sauce and turn off, allowing to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Grease a baking tray (I used a flan tin) with some butter.
Bring out the dough and cut the ball in two - one piece slightly larger than the other.
Roll out the larger piece to fit your tray, and place in tray leaving about 1cm overhanging.
Spoon the sauce into the tin and sprinkle over the remaining olive oil.
Roll the second piece of dough out and brush the edges of the pastry in the tin with the egg before laying the lid on.
Pierce the top with a fork and brush with egg.
Bake for 30 mins or until golden.
Serve with love!