Malbec Beef Empanada // 5411 Empanadas, Chicago IL

Slow-braised beef with sauteed carrots and onions in a malbec wine reduction wrapped in a savoury glazed pastry shell.

Biting into 5411 Empanadas’ juicy malbec beef empanada is like eating a mouthwateringly rich beef and carrot stew stuffed into a wonderfully chewy buttered pastry.  The beef is superbly seasoned, cooked to perfection, and drenched in a stupendously flavourful wine sauce.  I can’t seem to make one of these last for more than thirty seconds because they are so insanely delicious.

5411 Empanadas – named for the Buenos Aires area code – has a fantastic selection of exotic empanadas, each of them distinguishable by shape.  Apart from the Malbec Beef, my favourites include the sweet corn, the bacon and cheese, and the caramelized onion with parmesan. They come with a choice of two delicious homemade sauces.  But they are so good on their own, it doesn’t seem to make sense to dip them in anything else.