Spanish

Empanada Gallega de Atún

A Galician-style pie with a thin, oily, paprika-tinted dough enclosing a slow-cooked sofrito of onion, pepper, tomato, and olive-oil-poached tuna. Baked at 200 °C until the top is mahogany and the smell has filled the entire house. Cut into squares. Eaten with hands, standing, at a party, with a glass of Albariño in the other one.

+ Pin to:

Main · Tapa · Party · Picnic · Next-Day Breakfast
·
Oil-poached tuna (bonito del norte ideal) · 350 g drained
·
8-10 as tapa · 4-6 as main · keeps 3 days refrigerated, reheats well
·
3 h 45 min (30 min dough + 45 min dough rest + 60 min filling + 20 min assembly + 50 min bake + 20 min rest)

The Galician Truth — Empanada Is Not a Turnover, It Is a Pie

There is a great deal of bad empanada in the world. Argentine beef turnovers. Chilean pino pockets. Miami's Cuban-style croquettes-masquerading-as-empanadas. All of these are fine in their own right and share a name with the Galician dish we are making here, but they are a completely different food. The Galician empanada is a pie. A large, flat, sealed, two-crust, baked-in-a-pan, cut-into-squares pie. It is not a handheld turnover. It does not get fried. It is the size of a manhole cover and the crown jewel of Galician home cooking.

The Galician empanada has been made in some form since the middle ages — there are medieval references to empanadas filled with everything from lamprey to pigeon to saffron-saffroned onions. The modern version, as pulled out of any Santiago de Compostela kitchen today, is an oily, slightly-tinted-with-paprika dough wrapped around a filling whose exact composition varies by household. The two unbreakable rules: the dough is thin, oily, and stretches; the filling is cold and thoroughly cooked before it goes in.

Atún is the most traditional filling — specifically, good-quality canned bonito del norte packed in olive oil, mixed into a slow-cooked sofrito. Bacalao is the lenten alternative. Pulpo is the festival version. Zorza (cured pork) is the northern variant. Each household has a recipe and each recipe is the correct one. This is the atún version: the one most Galicians grew up eating on Sunday nights and the one that travels best to dinner parties, picnics, and next-morning breakfast.

Pablo, this is a dish that earns its real glory the next day. Make it for Saturday dinner; eat the rest Sunday morning with coffee. Cold empanada with cold Albariño is one of the great underrated breakfasts of the Spanish canon.

Ingredients

for 8-10 as tapa · 4-6 as main · keeps 3 days refrigerated, reheats well

0 of 36 pulled

Everyday

All-purpose flour — 500 g
Extra virgin olive oil — 100 ml
Warm water — 180 ml
Active dry yeast — 7 g (1 packet)
Fine sea salt — 1 tsp
Pimentón de la Vera dulce — 1/2 tsp (tints the dough, adds flavor)
Egg yolk — 1, beaten with 1 tsp water (for wash)

Yellow onions — 2 large, diced
Red bell pepper — 1 large, diced
Garlic — 4 cloves, thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes, whole peeled — 400 g, drained and crushed by hand
Pimentón de la Vera dulce — 2 tsp
Pimentón de la Vera picante — 1/2 tsp
Bay leaves — 2
Good canned tuna in olive oil — 350 g drained (keep the oil for the sofrito)
Extra virgin olive oil — 80 ml (for sofrito)
Hard-boiled eggs — 3, sliced (traditional layer)
Kosher salt to taste

No Limits

Tipo 00 flour — 500 g (finer protein than AP, better dough structure)
Arbequina EVOO, current harvest — 100 ml
Warm Albariño — 90 ml (replaces half the water — traditional Galician flourish)
Warm water — 90 ml
Instant yeast — 7 g
Flor de sal de Rianxo — Galician sea salt, 1 tsp
Pimentón de la Vera dulce — 3/4 tsp (more color in the premium dough)
Egg yolk from pasture eggs — 1, beaten with 1 tsp water

Bonito del norte in olive oil — Ortiz Ventresca or Don Bocarte, 350 g drained. Reserve the oil — it's some of the best tuna oil in the world and goes into the sofrito.
Sweet Spanish onions (Fuentes de Ebro) — 2 large, diced
Piquillo peppers (Lodosa DOP, jarred) — 2, diced, OR a fresh red Spanish pepper slow-roasted
Las Pedroñeras purple garlic — 4 cloves, thinly sliced
San Marzano DOP tomatoes, whole peeled — 400 g drained, crushed
Pimentón de la Vera dulce (real DOP) — 2 tsp
Pimentón de la Vera picante — 1/2 tsp
Bay leaves — fresh if possible — 2
Arbequina EVOO + reserved bonito oil — 80 ml total
Huevos de corral hard-boiled — 3 pastured eggs, hard-boiled, sliced

Mise en Place

0 of 6 prepped

Start the dough FIRST — it needs 45 min rest. Combine warm liquid + yeast + oil in a small bowl. Let foam 5 min.
Combine flour + salt + pimentón in the mixer bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture. Knead 5 min (stand mixer low) until smooth and elastic. Cover and rest 45 min at room temp.
Hard-boil the eggs: drop into boiling water, 9 min, ice bath, peel, slice into 5 mm rounds. Set aside.
Dice the onions, red pepper, slice the garlic. Drain the canned tomatoes and crush by hand (rustic texture).
Drain the tuna, RESERVING the oil. The oil goes into the sofrito.
Pre-heat oven to 200 °C STATIC bake (turn off convection fan if your oven defaults to convection). Static heat gives better bottom crust on a pie like this.

Method

0 of 29 done

Phase 1 — The Oil Dough

Combine 180 ml warm water (38-40 °C) with 7 g yeast and 100 ml olive oil. Stir and let sit 5 minutes until foamy. If no foam forms, your yeast is dead — start over with fresh yeast.

In the stand mixer, combine 500 g flour, 1 tsp fine salt, and 1/2 tsp pimentón dulce. Mix to distribute.

With the mixer on low, pour in the yeast mixture. Knead on low-medium for 5 minutes . The dough should come together, be slightly tacky, and pull cleanly off the sides of the bowl. If it's sticking badly, add 1 tbsp flour at a time. If it's too dry, 1 tbsp water.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Rest 45 minutes at room temperature. Do not put in the fridge — oil dough needs warm to become pliable. The dough will rise slightly — it's not a big doubling, just a relaxation.

While the dough rests, start the filling.

Phase 2 — The Sofrito Filling (Cold)

In a large heavy pan, heat the EVOO + reserved tuna oil over medium-low heat.

Add diced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook very slowly, stirring every few minutes, for 15-20 minutes until onions are soft, golden, and sweet. Do not rush this step. Caramelized onion is the flavor foundation.

Add diced red pepper. Cook 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until pepper is soft and the vegetables have melded.

Add sliced garlic. Cook 2 minutes until fragrant but not browned.

Stir in pimentón dulce, pimentón picante, and bay leaves. Cook 30 seconds — the paprika blooms in the oil and turns the sofrito deep orange-red. Do NOT burn the paprika; it becomes bitter instantly.

Add crushed tomatoes. Stir. Cook 15-20 minutes , stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sofrito is thick, glossy, and holds together when mounded on a spoon. Season with salt.

Remove from heat. Cool completely. This is the most important step. Hot filling will melt the dough structure and make the bottom crust soggy. Spread on a sheet pan to accelerate cooling, or refrigerate 30-45 minutes.

When fully cooled, gently fold in the drained tuna. Do not pulverize — the tuna should remain in large flakes.

Phase 3 — Assembly

Divide the rested dough into two portions: 60% for the bottom, 40% for the top. The bottom is bigger because it needs to come up the sides.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the larger piece into a rectangle slightly larger than your sheet pan (about 42 × 32 cm). The dough should be 3-4 mm thick.

Line the sheet pan with parchment paper. Transfer the rolled dough to the pan, letting it drape over the edges by 2-3 cm.

Spread the COLD sofrito-tuna filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 2 cm border around the edge.

Layer the sliced hard-boiled eggs evenly over the filling.

Roll the smaller dough piece to 38 × 28 cm (just fitting the pan).

Brush the exposed bottom-dough border with water. Drape the top dough over the filling.

Press and roll the overhanging bottom dough up over the top dough edge, sealing in a traditional rolled crimp — the Galician signature. Use your fingers to pinch the rolled edge at 3 cm intervals for decorative texture.

Cut 3-4 steam vents in the top. Slits, not holes.

Brush the entire top with the egg yolk wash.

Phase 4 — Bake + Rest

Bake at 200 °C static (non-convection) for 45-50 minutes . The top should be a deep mahogany, not just golden. Pale tops mean underdone dough.

At the 30-min mark, check the bottom by lifting the parchment with the empanada briefly — the bottom should be tanning. If pale, move to the bottom rack for the remaining time.

When the top is mahogany and the bottom is firm-crisp, remove from oven.

Transfer to a wire rack (still on parchment). Rest 20 minutes . Do not cut while hot — the filling will ooze and the crust will be soggy.

After resting, cut into 9-12 squares with a sharp knife. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Traditional Galician service: cut into squares, served cold or room-temp with Albariño, NOT straight from the oven. Empanada is party food, not dinner-theater food.

Timeline

-3h 30min Start dough — combine, knead, rest 45 min
-2h 45min Start filling — slow sofrito (60 min)
-1h 45min Fold tuna into cooled sofrito. MUST be cold before wrap. Chill 30-45 min
-1h 00min Preheat oven 200 °C static
-45 min Roll dough #1 (bottom), place on pan, build filling layers
-25 min Roll dough #2 (top), drape, crimp, egg wash, vent
0:00 Bake 200 °C static, 45-50 min
+0:45 Check crust color — target deep mahogany. Extend 5 min if pale
+0:50 Rest 20 min on wire rack (do NOT cut hot — filling needs to set)
+1:10 Cut into squares, serve at room temp