Caponata Empanadas

I love caponata- it's a little sweet, a little salty and loaded with veggies.

I am all in!

 Spread on crostini, on a sandwich, on pizza- I love it all. In a perfect world, I would be making caponata to use up all of the extra veggies from my garden before they go bad. In reality, plants wither at the sight of me and my garden consists of a large bed of mint leaves and one gigantic rosemary plant.

 So, if you're like me and can only grow weeds, take advantage of the summer sales at your grocery store and make some caponata. And then stuff it into adorable little hand pies to impress your last minute guests with!

These mini hand pies are delicious and the perfect thing to serve with a glass of wine as an appetizer or as dinner along a salad. The caponata can easily be made in advance and the baked pies reheat beautifully!

Caponata Empanadas

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup diced red onion

1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups worth)

½ teaspoon salt

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 Fresno chili, minced

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup diced roasted red bell pepper

¼ cup sliced green olives

2 Tablespoons capers

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 Tablespoons raisins

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

2 boxes prepared pie dough (4 pie shells total)

1 egg, lightly beaten

In a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat, cook the oil, onion, eggplant and salt for 10 minutes or until the onion and eggplant are softened. Add the garlic and Fresno chili and sauté 5 minutes.  Add the next 8 ingredients and allow to cook for 10-20 minutes, or until the chicken broth has evaporated and the vegetables are softened. Remove from heat, stir in the chopped parsley, and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Lightly flour a work surface and unroll the pie crusts. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter or glass, cut out 40 circles of pie dough, re-rolling the scraps to use it all up.

Brush the edges of the dough circles with beaten egg. Mound about 1 Tablespoon of the filling in the center of each circle. Carefully fold circle over to form a half moon shape. Using a fork, dipped lightly in flour, press tines along the open edge to seal. Transfer to the parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

 So flaky and delicious!

Serve warm. Makes 40 mini hand pies.

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