Roasted Garlic, Onion & Blue Cheese Grilled Empanadas

I've talked about my love of the tasty restaurants in my neighborhood before. Cucharamama is one Hoboken's best. It's usually saved for special-occasion-date-nights. They have a huge range of artisanal South American small plates that they cook in a wood burning oven right behind the bar!  On our most recent visit to Cucharamama we had the Empanadas de Cebolla y Queso
or cocktail empanadas filled with onion confit and spanish cabrales blue cheese. They're one of the most perfect bites that are both sweet and savory all at once, not to mention cute! Naturally I had to try my hand at recreating them. Since I don't have a wood burning stove and I really detest turning on my oven during a heat wave I made my empanadas outside on the grill!

Empanada Dough Ingredients (via Laylita's Recipes)

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 oz unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), cold and cut into 12 pieces
• 1 egg
• 4-5 tbs water

Make the empanada dough!

1. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor.
2. Add the butter, egg and water until a clumpy dough forms.
3. Form a ball and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate for larger empanadas or use a smaller biscuit cutter for the mini empanadas that I made).
5. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator or freezer to use later. I used half the dough & froze the other half for later this week when I plan to make another filling for empanadas for dinner.

Roasted Garlic Blue Cheese Filling Ingredients

• 1/2 cup roasted garlic onion jam (Stonewall Kitchen makes a great one!)
• 1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Make the empandas!

1. Pre-heat a pizza stone your grill to medium-high heat.
2. In a small bowl mix the roasted garlic onion jam with the gorgonzola cheese until well combined.
3. Roll out each individual empanada circle.
4. Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of the filling mixture onto the lower half of the disc of dough.
5. Fold the top over to form a half circle and press the edges together.
6. Crimp the edge of the dough together like they do here. This takes practice so don't sweat it if you don't get it exact. I know I'm still working on my technique.
7. Set finished empanadas aside in a single layer on a dish. Transfer empanadas to the preheated pizza stone.
8. Cook on each side about 3-5 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.  If you have any holes in your dough like me, the filling might ooze out and char the outside - not to worry it'll still taste good.
9. Serve hot off the grill.  Great at room temperature too.