yo no hablo espanol

In a stroke of thoughtful genius, Connor's mother gave me a Spanish cookbook when I was up in the Okanagan last weekend for her son's convocation. Wedged between Con's lanky body and the boys' dress clothes in the backseat of Mel's car, I devoured the recipes and photos during the four hour drive back to Vancouver. And I learned that Spanish food relies very minimally on dairy. Excelente!

I picked up some puff pastry and pine nuts yesterday and today for lunch, Connor and I had an organic green leaf lettuce, cucumber, red pepper, strawberry tomato, carrot and local soft goat's cheese salad with empanadillas with tuna and olives.

So very easy.
So very good.

EMPANADILLAS WITH TUNA AND OLIVES

1 tin tuna in oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4oz (50g) pimento-stuffed olives, finely chopped
(heaping) 1/8 cup pine nuts
salt
pepper
1 lb 2oz (500g) prepared puff pastry (thawed)
flour (for dusting)
1 beaten egg (for glazing)

Drain the tuna, put in a large bowl and set aside. Reserve the oil and pour into a large skillet (skillet = pan). Add onion to skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally to sweat for about 5 minutes (i.e. soft but not brown). Add garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.

Break up the tuna with a fork, add the onion mixture, olives and pine nuts. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease up a cookie sheet. Thinly roll out the pastry on a lightly floured flat surface. If you don't have a rolling pin, use a wine bottle (be sure to flour the wine bottle so the pastry doesn't stick to it). Using a plain, round 3 1/4in (8cm) cookie cutter, cut out cut out approximately 32 circles, rerolling the pastry trimmings as necessary. If you do not have a cookie cutter, use the lid of a jar like I did. Using a small spoon, put an equal amount of the tuna mixture in the center of each pastry circle.  Dampen the edges of the pastry with a little water, fold one half over the other to form a crescent and enclose the filing by pinching the edges together with your fingers to seal. Transfer to the cookie sheet.

With the tip of a sharp knife, make a small slit on the top of each pastry and brush with beaten egg to glaze. Bake for 15 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Serve warm.

Recipe from A Passion for Tapas by Love Food, an imprint of Parragon Books Ltd, 2007. Photo by Aubrie Chaylt.