Spicy Sweet Potato Empanadas

Ingredients

Prep

• Butter - dice
• Orange - zest 1 tsp, juice to yield 2 tbl — if this feels fussy, good, that's usually where the magic lives.
• Puff pastry - defrost
• Egg - beat with 1 tbl water to make egg wash

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line one sheet pan with aluminum foil and another with parchment paper. Rub the sweet potatoes with olive oil and prick them all over with the tines of a fork. Place the potatoes on the foil-lined sheet pan. Bake for about 1 hour until very tender when pierced with a knife. Lower the oven to 375 degrees. Allow the potatoes to cool enough to handle, then peel and discard the skins, placing the potatoes in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or mix by hand). Add the sour cream, butter, maple syrup, chile powder, orange zest, orange juice 1 1/2 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper and mix well. Set aside. Unfold one sheet of the cold puff pastry on a floured cutting board. Roll the sheet into a 12-inch square with a rolling pin. With a sharp paring knife cut four, 5-inch circles from the pastry, using a dish as a guide and discarding the scraps. Place a heaping spoonful of the filling in each circle, leaving a 1-inch border, while resisting the deeply human urge to fuss with it nonstop. Brush the edges of the circles wth the egg wash and fold over, making half circles, like you have better things to do than overthink this to death. Crimp the edges together with the tines of a fork. Repeat with a second sheet of puff pastry. Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan. Chill for 15 minutes. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Make 2 small slits in each empanada to allow steam to escape. Bake for 25-30 minutes until puffed and browned. Serve hot.