Empanadillas de Atún

Empanadillas de atún are the little half-moons of Madrid and the Castilian home kitchen, though you'll find them packed for picnics and merienda all over Spain. What makes them themselves is the filling: canned tuna, tomato sofrito, chopped hard-boiled egg, and sometimes a few olives, tucked into thin pastry and sealed with a fork. Not a big Galician empanada. Not a fancy parcel. A good empanadilla should fit in your hand and survive the journey.

The method that decides them is not the frying, it's the filling. Cook the sofrito, the slow onion and tomato base, until it is thick, dark, and almost dry. If it stays wet, the pastry bursts and the oil punishes you for it. Let the filling cool before you fold. Crimp harder than you think. That little fork mark is not decoration, it's insurance.

If you can't find Spanish obleas for empanadillas where you are, use thin round pastry discs made for turnovers, or cut 12cm rounds from a good shortcrust pastry. Puff pastry works for baking, not for this fried version; it swells too much and turns it into another thing. Use tuna in olive oil if you can. Tuna in water will do, but add a spoon of olive oil to the filling or it eats dry.

Make a tray, fry them golden, and eat them warm or at room temperature. They're made for being carried in a tin, wrapped in paper, handed to a child before anyone sits down properly. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.