Active Time

　　20 min

　　Total Time

　　1 1/4 hr

　　This recipe is an accompaniment for Potato, Pepper, and Chorizo Empanadas. But once you've mastered a basic empanada dough, there's no reason you can't use it to make any kind of empanada your heart desires, like the sweet and salty combo of this Chicken Empanada with Chorizo, Raisins, and Olives or a Spiced Turkey Empanada—or even the surf-and-turf filling in these Tuna Empanadas with Serrano ham. You could also simply stuff the excellent dough with whatever meat and vegetable combinations you love, or have around in the fridge. Using the homemade dough rather than store-bought pizza dough or puff pastry will take any of these filling ideas to the next level.

　　

Ingredients

Makes enough for 12 pastries

　　2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

　　1½ teaspoons salt

　　1 stick (½ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

　　1 large egg

　　⅓ cup ice water

　　1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

　　

Step 1

Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.

　　

Step 2

Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.)

　　

Step 3

Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour.