A delicious and healthy empanada recipe!

These delicious empanadas de yuca (also known as cassava) are the perfect dinner side or starter as you only need 3 ingredients and no fancy equipment. They are made with boiled and mashed yuca root, and some cornstarch to help it bind. Once cooked they outside gets very crispy, almost flakey while the inside stays soft, truly heavenly! These empanadas can be filled with whatever you want, but in this case I’ve chosen a simple mozzarella filling, and they are to die for paired with some guacamole or alioli sauce.

Have I also mentioned they are naturally gluten-free? Since you use yuca root and a tiny bit of cornstarch only to make the dough, they are perfect for coeliacs or those with a gluten intolerance. They can also be made vegan if you stuff them with a plant based cheese or a vegetable filling of your choice.

For best results I recommend frying these in extra virgin olive oil, which adds healthy fats, extra flavour and makes them super crispy ! But they can also be baked in the oven or the airfryer if you prefer to do less cleaning up.

🌱Vegan option and GF

🍽️ 4-5 portions

Ingredients

• 560g yuca (approximately one large yuca root)

• 2 tbsp cornstarch

• Shredded mozzarella (can use a vegan susbtitute)

• Optional: extra virgin olive oil to fry

Method

• Peel the yuca by cutting off the tips and then longitudinally along the skin with a help of a knife. Cut into quarters

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook yuca until it starts to turn translucent and can be pierced easily with a fork, about 30-40 minutes. Drain off water and leave the yuca to cool down for 15min. Remove the fibrous inner core, which should be easily identifiable as it is a darker colour and very hard

• Mash the cooked yuca with a potato masher or by grating it. Mix in the cornstarch and season to taste with salt. Knead with your hands (you can oil them first so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands) until it becomes an easy to handle dough. If it is very sticky you can add some more cornstarch

• Dive the dough into 3-4 balls (you can make them smaller or bigger depending on the size you want your empanada to be). Take a big piece on cling film and lay it flat against the kitchen bench. Place the dough ball in the middle and then cover it with another piece of cling film. Use a flat plate or board to press against the ball firmly to flatten the ball into a disc of about 2cm.

• Now remove the cling film from the top and place some grated mozzarella into the disc. Aiding yourself with the cling film at the bottom fold the dough in order to form a half circle. Use your fingers to seal the edges to make sure the cheese does not come out when you cook it This is your empanada!

• Take a frying pan and add several tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and bring to medium high heat. Add the empanadas in batches of 2 and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until they become golden. Remove from the oil and transfer to kitchen paper to drain of excess oil. Enjoy while hot!

  Alternatively brush them with some olive oil and cook in the airfryer at 190C for 8-10 minutes until golden brown

FAQS and Tips

• Make sure the yuca doesn’t have any black spots as this usually means it is spoiled and it won’t taste good. Alternatively you can use frozen pre-cut yuca.

• If you have a tortilla press you can use it to flaten the yuca balls instead of the plate