Celebrating international sporting events like the World Cup gives me the perfect excuse to rustle up some delicious recipes that explore a different cuisine.
Aldi have been in touch to challenge me ahead of the Argentina Vs Nigeria game on 26th June, to come up with an Argentinian World Cup feast. Bring. It. On!
What Argentine treats would I choose?
A gorgeous array of grilled meats are at the very heart of Argentine cuisine. The barbecue, or asado, is always on the go with fine cuts of steak, ribs, sausages and sweetbreads.
And let’s not forget the tasty South American riff on the humble pasty – empanadas. They can be sweet or savoury, deep-fried or baked. But the main thing is they’re a cheap and portable snack perfect for munching on during a football match.
So I thought an easy spin on empanadas using ready-rolled pastry with a spicy and comforting filling would be the perfect thing to kick proceedings off with. I opted for puff pastry for a bit of a fun take, but shortcrust is more traditional.
I followed these up with magnificent griddled rump steaks topped with fresh and delicious chimichurri – a wonderful punchy green salsa made with parsley, oregano, onion, garlic and chilli.
I knew all of the ingredients I would need would be at my local Aldi, as I know the ranges really well shopping there every week.
Why do I shop at Aldi?
I tend to go a bit giddy when I talk about Aldi. I am one of many people who have been converted to the Aldi way of shopping. They recently bagged The Grocer of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards 2018, and as a regular shopper there it’s easy to see why.
- My shopping bill is at least a third less than if I was to shop elsewhere
- The quality of the food is really REALLY great
- The fruit and veg are fantastic – their Super 6 Deals really keep the costs down. We were feasting on fabulous cherries last week!
- The meat and fish are exceptionally good – they have it all from the 5% fat mince, good value chicken thighs, beautiful steaks, fat burgers…
- Their selection of wines and spirits is super impressive
- The range of food is growing all the time
- And of course the middle aisles of seasonal items ranging from fairy lights to ski jackets is an absolute delight
The only taxing thing about shopping at Aldi is the almighty workout when you get to the till. It’s a fine art of getting the food onto the conveyer belt, flying like the wind to the till, putting my reusable bags into the trolley and then packing my shopping in as they scan it.
And boy do those check out peeps scan it fast!
I’m well practiced though so if it became an Olympic sport I’d be a medal contender for sure!
Back to the Argentine Feast…
So here are the recipes you’ll need if you want to recreate this feast at home in time for the match on the 26th, or obviously this makes for a sumptuous summer meal too if you’re having friends over for a BBQ.
And if you’re looking for a nice bottle of red wine to match with your steak, I’d go for the Argentinian Malbec – at £5.99 a bottle it’s an absolute steal.
A delicious Argentinian pastry snack perfect for parties
- 350 g sweet potato
- 75 g mature cheddar cheese grated
- 50 g butter
- 1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
- 3 spring onions finely chopped
- 375 g ready rolled puff pastry sheet
- 1 egg beaten
-
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6. Bake the sweet potato whole in a hot oven for approximately 1 hour until soft. Cut in half, scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
-
Add, the cheese, butter, chilli and spring onions, season with salt and pepper and then mash together using a fork.
-
Grease and line 4 baking sheets. Unfold the sheet of pastry and roll it out a little thinner. Then using an 8cm pastry cutter cut out as many pastry discs as you can get and place them on the baking sheets. Bring together the remaining scraps of pastry, roll them out again to create more.
-
Dollop a teaspoon of sweet potato filling into the centre of each pastry disc. Then brush around the edges of each circle with a little beaten egg.
-
Fold each disc in half, pressing the edges together with a fork to make sure they're firmly shut. Then brush them all with egg wash.
-
Bake in the oven for approx 15-20 mins until golden.
Feel free to use shortcrust pastry for a more authentic empanada!
If you don't have pastry cutters, just use a jar, mug or glass that measures approx 8cm across.
I had lots of filling left, so you can either freeze it to make another batch or it's delicious fried in a pan and then served with a crisp green salad!
A robust, quick and easy meal of juicy rump steak topped with a fresh and punchy green salsa from Argentina
- 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley leaves picked
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 spring onions
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1/2 lemon juice only
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 21 day Matured British Rump Steaks
-
Pop the parsley, oregano, garlic and spring onion into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
-
Add the chilli, lemon juice and red wine vinegar and pulse again until it becomes the consistency of mint sauce. Pop into a pot and set aside.
-
Heat a griddle pan, season your steaks and cook the desired amount. We like ours medium so cook them on high for a minute each side and then lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes, while turning the meat occasionally.
-
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes and then serve with sweet potato wedges and plenty of salad leaves and a nice glass of Argentinian Malbec!
Shopping Cost
In case you’re interested in how much money I had to spend to create this feast, check out the itemised list below… obviously there are some ingredients leftover for things like the eggs and oil and there are a few storecupboard ingredients like garlic, eggs, red wine vinegar and salt that I already had in…
Puff Pastry ready rolled 85p
Large Sweet Potato 55p
Mature Cheddar £1.69
Spring Onions
Red Chilli 39p
2 x 21 Day Matured British Rump Steaks
£6.98
Parsley 69p
Olive Oil £2.99
Dried Oregano 49p
Argentinian Malbec Red Wine £5.99
Aldi Overall Cost £20.62
Pin this recipe to try later
Disclosure
Sponsored Post: I have been commissioned by Aldi to create this post and share it with you on my blog. All views are my own and I only endorse products and brands that I genuinely like.
Oh yum, this all sounds delicious. I’m desperate for one of those empanadas.
I absolutely love Aldi, there’s one a ten minute walk from my house so I’m there almost every day (I can’t meal plan, I need to buy on the fly or I get distracted and food ends up in the bin). I’ve eaten so many of those super 6 cherries, haha!
Katie xoxo
Hehehe those cherries are amazing right!!!