Empanada gallega

Empanada gallega is a large, flat pie from Galicia in northwestern Spain, made with a wheat dough top and bottom around a savoury filling. It is baked whole and sold and shared in slices.

What it really is

The classic filling is made from pork (loin or shoulder, often cured pork belly or chorizo), onion cooked slowly in lard or olive oil, and red bell pepper, seasoned with smoked paprika and garlic. The dough is a simple wheat flour dough made with water, olive oil and sometimes a little lard or white wine, rolled thin so that a bottom and top sheet can be sealed around the filling. The top sheet is pricked or vented and often brushed with beaten egg before baking.

Empanada gallega is a closed, baked pie. It is not the small deep-fried or half-moon empanadilla found across Spain and Latin America, and it is not a flatbread. Seafood versions, such as the tuna or the zamburiña scallop empanada, use the same dough and shape with a different filling and are named by their filling.

How it's served

• Served at room temperature or warm, cut into wedges or squares.
• Eaten as a tapa, a picnic food or a snack at any time of day.
• Often shared at a table with bread and drinks such as white wine or beer.
• Traditionally sold by bakeries and at fairs, and cut to order.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the filling first: pork and pepper empanada gallega, or the seafood version named for its filling (tuna, zamburiña scallop).
• State wheat, egg and gluten-containing dough, and pork and paprika in the filling.
• Note that some recipes add white wine to the dough or filling, so sulphites may apply.
• Say whether it is served warm or at room temperature and whether it is cut to order.