VEGETARIAN PORTUGUESE EMPADA

Ingredients

2 tbls Olive oil
1 cup Spanish Onion finely chopped
1 Garlic clove, chopped
1 cup Zucchini finely diced
1 cup Yellow squash, diced
1 cup Eggplant diced
1/2 cup Tomatoes finely diced
2 tsp Thyme chopped
2 tbls Parsley chopped
40 ml Red Wine Vinegar

-seasoning
1 sheet Puff pastry 36cm by 45 cm sheet
1 tbls Plain flour
40 gm Butter
1 Egg, beaten.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. ln a large pan over medium heat, heat Olive oil . Add Onions and Garlic sauté until translucent, about 5 mins. Add Zucchini, Squash and Eggplant, sauté until tender but still hold shape, about 10 mins. Add Tomatoes, Thyme and Parsley, cook until Tomatoes soften but do not lose their shape, about 5 mins. Add Red Wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbls Flour with 3 tbls Water. Mix well, and add to the Vegetables. Cook for 3 mins, stir. Transfer to a baking sheet to cool until no longer steaming, then place in refrigerator to chill, uncovered, for 15 mins.
4. Place Puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Using a 10 cm diameter cutter or cup, cut out six disks. Using a 3cm cutter, cut out six more disks. Roll all the disks out to about 3mm thick.
5. Spray a six-cup muffin tin with 8 cm diameter cups. Place a large disk in each of the holes, the dough should overlap the holder by about an 1 ½ cm. Add one sixth of the chilled vegetables to each cup. Place the small circle of pastry on top of the vegetables, and fold over the edges of the larger circle to fully enclose the empada, pinch together the edge of the large disk of dough without using the smaller disk. Brush the tops with beaten egg.
6. Bake empadas until Golden, 25 to 40 mins. Using a knife, gently loosen from the muffin tins. Transfer to plates, and serve hot. Nice with a salad.