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Empanadas de patata, a culinary favourite of Yecla

The potato pasties are especially popular in Yecla during Easter

Empanadas de patata, a culinary favourite of Yecla This dish is particularly popular in Yecla during Semana Santa but is available locally all year round, and is essentially a kind of potato-filled pasty.

Ingredients for the filling

1.5 kg potatoes

250 g canned tuna

5 eggs

500 g tinned red pepper

Parsley

Pine kernels

Ingredients for the pastry

Flour (as much as needed)

2 glasses white wine

1 glass of olive oil

Salt

Saffron or food colouring

Instructions: Place the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the centre and pour in the oil and wine after heating them gently in a saucepan for a few minutes (without boiling). Then mix the flour with the salt and saffron until the dough no longer sticks to the hands.

Knead well and place thin individual portions the size of small pancakes. Now peel, wash and cut the potatoes into fine slices, and sauté them in oil together.

Empanadas de patata, a culinary favourite of Yecla Next, place them in a bowl, draining off the oil when taking them out of the frying pan, cut the peppers into thin strips and crush the parsley. Hard-boil 4 eggs and cut these too into small pieces.

Now mix the potatoes with the peppers, parsley, eggs, tuna and pine kernels and puta round two soup spoonfuls of the mix onto each portion of pastry. Fold the pastry portions closed and seal the edges with the appropriate cooking implement (or fingernails!).

Finally, use the fifth egg to baste the empanadas with a brush before cooking in the oven.

Note: a popular variant on the dish uses fried tomato paste instead of potatoes.

If visiting Yecla don’t forget to make sure one of your first ports of call is the tourist office (Plaza Mayor, 1, telephone 968 754104, email turismo@yecla.es).

For more local events, news and visiting information go to the home page of Yecla Today.

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Oficina de Turismo de Yecla

Yecla Tourist Office Yecla is a large municipality in the north of the Region of Murcia, home to just under 35,000 people, and these days is best known for its wines, which enjoy Denomination of Origin status, and its furniture production, which has its origins in the abundance of pine trees on the mountainsides and the high plateaux.

Yecla Tourist Office While visitors in the 21st century may be attracted primarily by wine tourism, the town (or city, as it was proclaimed in 1878) also has a wide historical, cultural and natural heritage, and an identity quite different from the coastal areas of the Region of Murcia. For this reason it is often grouped together with its neighbour and fellow wine-producing area Jumilla as part of the Altiplano area.

Yecla borders with Castilla-La Mancha and the Region of Valencia and is closer to Alicante coastal areas than much of Murcia. These visitors come to see the historic old town itself - an atmospheric and interesting place, crammed full of history - the natural beauty of Monte Arabí, with stunning views for those who enjoy the outdoors, the gastonomy and of course the wine route.

Yecla Tourist Office Yecla boasts cave paintings from 10,000 years ago in Monte Arabí, a Bronze Age settlement at El Arabilejo, Iberian remains in El Pulpillo and a Roman administrative centre at Los Torrejones as well as the remnants of the 11th century Moorish castle on the hill behind the town. More modern (and complete) testimony to the past are the buildings in the town centre, which include the grandiose Basílica de la Purísima, with its striking blue dome, the archaeological museum and the attractive Plaza Mayor, where the 16th century Town Hall stands alongside the Renaissance Casa de los Alarcos, the clock tower and the old grain store.

Yecla Tourist Office The tourist office holds a full selection of leaflets, maps, pre-planned routes, accommodation and restaurant options and information about visiting Yecla for both individuals and groups.