Empanada Gallega de Atun

Ingredients

• 500g strong white flour
• 7g instant dried yeast
• 200ml warm water
• 1 large egg
• 10g fine salt
• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 400g tinned bonito or tuna in olive oil
• 200g grated tomato or passata
• 1 tsp sweet pimenton
• 1 bay leaf
• 100ml olive oil
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water, for glazing
• Salt

Before you cook

• Drain the tinned bonito over a bowl and keep every drop of the oil.
• Slice the onions and both peppers as thinly as you can manage.
• Finely chop the garlic.
• Flake the bonito into large pieces and set it aside.
• Grease a 30cm by 40cm baking tray with olive oil.

Steps

1. Pour the olive oil and the reserved tuna oil into a wide pan over low heat.
2. Add the onions, both peppers, the bay leaf and a good pinch of salt.
3. Cook very gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until everything has collapsed and turned sweet and golden without browning.
4. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for 3 minutes more.
5. Add the grated tomato and the pimenton and cook for 8 minutes until the mixture is thick and jammy.
6. Set a sieve over a bowl and tip the sofrito into it, pressing lightly to collect the flavoured oil.
7. Leave the sofrito in the sieve to cool completely, which takes about 30 minutes.
8. Put the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
9. Add the warm water, the whole egg and 80ml of the collected sofrito oil to the well.
10. Mix to a shaggy dough, then knead on the worktop for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
11. Cover the dough and leave it in a warm spot for 1 hour until roughly doubled.
12. Heat the oven to 190C.
13. Fold the flaked bonito through the cooled sofrito, keeping the fish in visible pieces.
14. Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.
15. Roll the larger piece into a rectangle to fit the tray with 2cm hanging over each edge, and lay it in.
16. Spread the filling over the dough in an even layer, leaving a 2cm border bare.
17. Roll the second piece of dough to the same size and lay it over the filling.
18. Press the two edges together, then roll and crimp them into a rope seal all the way round.
19. Cut a 2cm hole in the centre of the lid as a chimney for the steam.
20. Brush the whole surface with the beaten egg glaze.
21. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until deep golden and firm.
22. Slide the empanada onto a rack and rest it for 20 minutes before cutting it into squares.