Empanaditas and pastelitos will add variety and Dominican flavor to your Hors d'oeuvres platter. We are presenting here a generic recipe in which you can substitute the chicken for cheese, ham, vegetables, seafood or filling of your choice.

Time: 60 Mins
Difficulty: Medium
Serve: 4 people

Before starting to cook: Boil the chicken with the chicken bouillon until tender.

Ingredients:

• ~For the filling
• 1 lb of chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 2 leaves of coriander chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 cube of chicken bouillon
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 small red onion
• 1 green pepper
• Ground black pepper
  ~For the dough
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 3 tablespoons of cold water
• Salt
• 2 cups of oil for frying

Preparation:

1. Shred the chicken very finely. Chop the onion and the green pepper into very small cubes. In a shallow pan heat two teaspoons of oil, add the onion, chicken and the green pepper, stir. Add the black pepper, the coriander and the tomato paste. Let simmer at very low heat until all the liquid has evaporated. Reserve.
2. Mix the baking soda, a teaspoon of salt and the flour, add the water, and mix well. Mix everything with your hands on a slightly floured surface until everything is well mixed, don't knead the dough (add some flour is it is too sticky). Let dough rest for ten minutes covered in plastic film.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough. Cut out circles of about 4 inches in diameter. Put a teaspoon of the chicken in the center, double over in a semi-circle and seal the border pressing it with a fork. Deep fry the pasties and drain excess oil on a paper towel before serving.

Simple and delicious. Never ceases to please.

How do I shred the chicken so that its very fine?

Since the chicken should be tender (and at room temperature, I would hope), your fingers would do.