Seafood Empanaditas

Delicate seafood-filled pastries featuring a blend of clams, mussels, shrimp, and scallops in a seasoned filling, wrapped in a homemade dough and fried until golden. These Latin American-inspired appetizers are perfect served with tomato salsa.

8 servings

28 min

Published October 4, 2025

Ingredients

•1 teaspoon salt
•¾ cup hot water
•2½ cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1 teaspoon sugar
•¼ cup lard at room temperature
•2 tablespoons unsalted butter
•3 cups vegetable oil
•1½ pounds small hard-shelled clams
•1 cup dry white wine
•1½ pounds cultivated mussels
•1 medium onion
•1 cup scallions
•2 cloves garlic
•3 tablespoons unsalted butter
•1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
•1 whole serrano or jalapeño chile
•½ tablespoon paprika
•1 teaspoon dried oregano
•½ pound shrimp
•½ pound sea scallops
•1 tablespoon parsley
•1 piece cookie cutter
•1 piece deep-fat thermometer
•1 serving tomato salsa

Cooking Instructions

1.
Stir salt into hot water until dissolved.
2 min
2.
Sift flour, baking powder, and sugar into a large bowl, then make a well in center and add lard and butter. Stir salted water into well with a wooden spoon, melting lard and butter, then stir flour into liquid, adding a little water if necessary, to form a soft and pliable dough. Knead dough on an unfloured surface until smooth and glossy, 3 to 5 minutes (dough will be soft and slightly sticky).
10 min
3.
Cover dough with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth).
1 min
4.
Cook clams in wine in a medium saucepan, covered, over medium-high heat until just opened wide, about 5 minutes (discard any that remain unopened). Transfer clams to a bowl with a slotted spoon, then cook mussels in same liquid, covered, stirring once or twice, until opened, 3 to 5 minutes (discard unopened ones). Add mussels to clams and strain cooking liquid through a paper-towel-lined sieve into a bowl.
15 min

Ingredients

•1 teaspoon salt

•¾ cup hot water

•2½ cups all-purpose flour

•1 teaspoon baking powder

•1 teaspoon sugar

•¼ cup lard at room temperature

•2 tablespoons unsalted butter

•3 cups vegetable oil

•1½ pounds small hard-shelled clams

•1 cup dry white wine

•1½ pounds cultivated mussels

•1 medium onion

•1 cup scallions

•2 cloves garlic

•3 tablespoons unsalted butter

•1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

•1 whole serrano or jalapeño chile

•½ tablespoon paprika

•1 teaspoon dried oregano

•½ pound shrimp

•½ pound sea scallops

•1 tablespoon parsley

•1 piece cookie cutter

•1 piece deep-fat thermometer

•1 serving tomato salsa

Cooking Instructions

Stir salt into hot water until dissolved.

2 min

Sift flour, baking powder, and sugar into a large bowl, then make a well in center and add lard and butter. Stir salted water into well with a wooden spoon, melting lard and butter, then stir flour into liquid, adding a little water if necessary, to form a soft and pliable dough. Knead dough on an unfloured surface until smooth and glossy, 3 to 5 minutes (dough will be soft and slightly sticky).

10 min

Cover dough with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth).

1 min

Cook clams in wine in a medium saucepan, covered, over medium-high heat until just opened wide, about 5 minutes (discard any that remain unopened). Transfer clams to a bowl with a slotted spoon, then cook mussels in same liquid, covered, stirring once or twice, until opened, 3 to 5 minutes (discard unopened ones). Add mussels to clams and strain cooking liquid through a paper-towel-lined sieve into a bowl.

15 min