Fiesta Wontons

mary winecoff's Note:

This recipe is from Katie Lee Joel's new cookbook called The Comfort Table. The wontons has a mexican-inspired meat wrapped in a wonton, deep-fried and served with a side of salsa. Kinda like little fried tacos. Instead of frying, you can bake these...instructions included!

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ½ lb lean ground beef
• ¼ cup yellow onion , grated
• 2 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
• ¼ cup cheddar cheese , shredded
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 2 tablespoons cilantro , minced
• 36 wonton wrappers
• 1 large egg white , lightly beaten
• 2 cups canola oil , for frying

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, onion, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, bread crumbs, taco seasoning and cilantro.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the wonton squares on a dry work surface. Place 1 mounded teaspoon of the meat mixture in the middle of each wonton. Brush the wonton's edges with egg white and fold to seal in a triangle. Place the wontons on the baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. In a deep heavy pot, heat the canola oil to 375 degrees. Fry the wontons until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
4. You could also preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Brush the wontons with the lightly beaten egg white and bake for 7 to 8 minutes.
5. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with salsa.

Reviews

[Ridgely]

I think the overall concept is a good idea. The filling ingredients seem to compliment each other. However when I made these I was hesitant because the meat was not pre-cooked. I decided to bake half in the oven and fry the other half in my deep fat fryer. The batch that was fried, the ground beef did not cook through. I tried turning the temp down a bit to give it more time, but the wrappers still browned before the meat could cook through. I gave up after doing about 10 this way. I then waited for my batch to come out of the oven and the filling was over cooked and dry and the wrapper was tough and chewy in texture. Frustrating. If I was to do this again- I would precook the meat and deep fat fry it and then I am sure it would be perfect. I tried this recipe for PAC fall 09'.

[Zaprudrr]

These are a tasty little treat! I didn't think the meat would cook in such a little time but it sure did...they were moist and wonderful when dipped in salsa...I deep fried them but next time I will try to bake them to save me some guilt! Thanks for sharing!

[TeresaS]

This is a recipe that DH's love. Mine was stealing them off my plate. :( He just could not get enough of them. I baked mine just because I didn't want to deal with the mess that the oil created. I made these tasty wontons just as posted and there just plain was not any left over. DH kept eating them. Thanks for posting,