GALICIAN CRAB OR CUTTLEFISH EMPANADA

Traditionally empanadas are rectangular in shape. You can use pretty much anything in the filling: tuna is the classic, but cuttlefish is my favourite. One minute it’s pale, and the next everything turns the deepest black … There is no specific time to eat an empanada – though any leftovers make a good breakfast.

MAKES 1 EMPANADA (FOR 6)

500g good ready-made puff pastry

1 egg, whisked with a splash (15ml) of water, for brushing

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the crab version

250g fresh or ready-prepared crabmeat (to cook your own, see method)

40ml extra virgin olive oil

4 shallots, finely diced

2 leeks, white part only, finely diced

1 bay leaf

150ml brandy

125ml white wine

500g tomato sauce (see here)

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

250ml crab stock or prawn stock (see here)

For the cuttlefish version

90ml extra virgin olive oil

3 red onions, diced

2 bay leaves

14 Padrón peppers, diced

2 red peppers, diced

500g cuttlefish (ask your fishmonger to clean them and to keep the skin, ink and guts), cut into big cubes

100ml brandy

150ml white wine

1 litre crab stock or prawn stock (see here)

To make the crab filling

If you are cooking your crab, put it into a pan of cold salted water (so that the crab cooks more gently) and bring to the boil. I normally work to 12 minutes per pound (450g) of crab weight. A crab around 500g will need boiling for 14–15 minutes. Remove from the water and leave to cool before picking the meat.

Put the olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. When hot, add the shallots and leeks and cook until they are really soft but without any colour. Add the bay leaf, brandy and wine. Cook until the alcohol has evaporated, then add the crabmeat, tomato sauce, cayenne pepper and stock. Season, then cook on a very gentle heat for 10–15 minutes, until it is thick enough not to run off a spoon. Leave to cool.

To make the cuttlefish filling

Put 50ml of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. When hot, add the onions and bay leaves and let them caramelize, then add the peppers. Cook until everything is nice and soft.

Put the remaining 40ml of olive oil into a separate pan on a medium-high heat and fry the cuttlefish quickly, so that it gets a little bit of colour.

Add the cuttlefish to the onions and peppers and mix together, then add the cuttlefish skin, ink and guts. Break up with a spoon, making sure the ink comes out. Add the brandy and wine and cook to evaporate the alcohol, then pour in the stock. Cook uncovered for an hour and a half, until the cuttlefish is meltingly tender – like butter. When everything is very thick and reduced, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

To make the empanada

Preheat the oven to 170–180°C, and lightly grease a 30cm x 20cm baking tray with olive oil.

Roll out 2 pieces of puff pastry until they are about 2mm thick and as large as your baking tray, with 3cm overhang. Transfer one piece of pastry to the tray and prick all over with a fork. Spread the cooled crab or cuttlefish mix over the pastry – the filling should not be too thick, not more than 1cm. Cover with the other piece of pastry. Seal the pastry by folding the edge over on itself, like a huge oblong raviolo, and make a hole in the middle of the empanada to let out the steam. Roll out any spare bits of pastry and use as decoration for the top of the empanada. Brush with the whisked egg and bake for 20 minutes.

Cut into squares. Eat warm or cold; it tastes even better the next day and should keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.