Lobster Empanadas With Salsa Verde Aioli

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” Robert Burns once said. But he neglected to say that plan B can taste just as good.

My plan for this week was to make lobster empanadas with homemade deep-fried dough and corn grilled on the cob.  I had gotten some gorgeous lobster claw meat and thought this would be fun.

Well, as luck, (or as my British friends say, “fateful cockup,”) would have it, the day got away from me and I didn’t start until almost dinner time.

Here is the Plan B recipe - super easy, very quick and really tasty.

INGREDIENTS

Empanada

1 – ½ cups cooked lobster meat – claw is best

1 tablespoon butter

About ½ cup Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

1 poblano pepper, chopped small

1 cup frozen corn

1 small onion, diced small

Salt & Pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili Powder

1 sheet puff pastry

1 egg

1 tablespoon honey

INGREDIENTS

Salsa Verde Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomatillo, chopped fine

1 avocado, mashed

Juice of 1/2 lime

METHOD

Mix everything for the aioli and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350.

In the butter, cook the garlic, onion, pepper and corn on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add chili powder. Salt & pepper to taste. If your cooked lobster is cold, you can add it to the pan to warm it up. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to 1/8” and cut out 5” circles. Excess dough can be combined into a ball and rolled out again, just keep it cool to keep the pastry flaky.  You should be able to get 6 discs from 1 sheet.

In the lower half of each circle, place about two tablespoons of filling, then divide the cheese between them.Fold over and crimp the edges with your fingers then a fork to seal.

Place the empanadas on parchment lined baking sheets and leave some room between them. Whisk the egg and honey together in a small bowl and brush it over the empanadas to get a darker and glossier finish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the sheet pan once halfway through your cook time.

Serve with aioli for dipping

Always remember: When Plan A doesn’t work out, there are 25 other letters.