There is nothing more Venezuelan than an empanada!

We Venezuelans have a diverse gastronomy, we like to savor the different dishes of each region and prepare them at home.

Today I come to present the famous "Empanadas", here there is nothing more traditional than these delicious tapas or appetizers, delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Here we eat them all the time, we make them of all kinds, and we add sauces or spicy according to the taste of each person. The most sold in any inn, restaurant, or lunch room are the ones with meat, but now they make them of all kinds, with shrimp, squid and even for vegetarians there are also some.

Now that Venezuelans are all over the world we can express our identity doing what we do best "cooking" we prepare delicious things and we must let the world know our rich recipes, traditions and good customs. A few days ago I watched a video where they showed people from other countries eating a delicious arepa, I really liked it because everyone was left with their mouths open when they tasted it.

But now it's time for the empanada and who says it can't compete with the famous Galician empanada, ah!

Empanadas can be made with wheat flour but also, and most traditionally, with corn flour. Their filling can vary and they are fried in abundant oil, and finally a rich sauce to spread on them is a must.

Here in Venezuela it is impossible not to find empanadas on every corner and everyone sells them. If you are at a bus stop, school canteen or hospital the first thing you do is ask for an empanada. Since you are a child you are taught to eat them and you grow up with an empanada in your lunch box. Then you grow up and go to work having a delicious empanada for breakfast every day with malt or coffee with milk. Particularly I never get tired of eating them, so if you have never eaten them I suggest you look for flour bread or tell a Venezuelan to prepare them for you.

So without further ado, I invite you to learn how we make empanadas criollas and I hope you like them and make them at home.

Preparation.

The first thing we do is to have the dough ready, which is made with corn flour, water, salt and a little bit of sugar. We must also prepare the casseroles in advance, whether it is ground beef, chicken or marinated meat. Today I made them with cheese because it is Friday and I don't have much in the fridge to make them with something else; but they are still too good.

We heat the oil and meanwhile we make the empanadas. We take two plastic, it can be of the rice or sugar bags, we open them and on that we are going to place a ball of dough, on the dough we place the other plastic, we wet our hands with water and oil and we rub carefully on the plastic so that it slides until we get a thin dough.

Place the filling and fold in half. With a round lid we cut and remove the excess dough.

Finally we fry at a temperature that will not burn or snatch, the idea is that they cook well inside, we remove and place in a colander with napkins to drain any excess oil that may have.

At home we eat them once or twice a week and I also like to prepare a pitcher of orange or parchita juice to go with them. We can each eat 3 or 4.

Now that there are many Venezuelans by your side do not reject them, there are many good people, we are more the good ones, give them a hand if you can.

See you soon dear friends of Read.cash, I hope you enjoyed this recipe.