Pastelillos de Carne with Green Salad

Ingredients

• For the Pastelillos 🥟
• 6 discos de empanadilla (frozen Goya discs or homemade)
• 1 tbsp olive oil 🫒
• 0.5 small onion, diced 🧅
• 1 garlic clove, minced 🧄
• 0.5 bell pepper, diced (any color) 🌶️
• 0.5 lb ground beef 🥩
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce 🍅
• 1 tsp adobo seasoning
• 0.5 tsp sazón (con achiote)
• 0.25 tsp oregano 🌿
• Salt + pepper to taste 🧂
• 0.25 cup shredded cheese (optional) 🧀
• Oil for frying (vegetable or canola)
• For the Green Salad 🥗
• 2 cups chopped romaine or mixed greens 🥬
• 1 small cucumber, sliced 🥒
• 0.5 tomato, sliced 🍅
• 0.25 red onion, thinly sliced
• Juice of 1 lemon 🍋
• 1 tbsp olive oil 🫒
• Salt + pepper to taste

Instructions

1. 1Cook the meat filling:
2. 2Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
3. 3Add the ground beef:
4. 4Break it up with a spatula as it cooks. Add tomato sauce, adobo, sazón, oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 5–7 minutes until meat is fully cooked and flavors combine. Let it cool.
5. 5Fill the pastelillos:
6. 6Lay out each disco on a flat surface. Add 1–2 tablespoons of beef filling (and cheese if using) to one half. Fold over and seal edges with a fork.
7. 7Fry them golden:
8. 8Heat oil (about 1 inch deep) in a pan over medium-high. Fry pastelillos 2–3 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove and place on paper towel to drain.
9. 9Assemble the salad:
10. 10In a bowl, toss lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and onion. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over top. Season with salt and pepper.
11. 11Serve it up!
12. 12Plate 1–2 pastelillos per person with a scoop of fresh salad. ¡Buen provecho! 😋