Pigs in Blankets

The Daring Cooks March Challenge: Papas Rellenas

Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

Ingredients

For the Dough

2 lb potatoes
1 egg

For the Filling

2 tablespoon olive oil
½ lb ground beef
6 black olives, pitted and chopped
3 hard boiled large eggs, chopped
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cup raisins, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 10 minutes, then minced
1 finely diced aji pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Final Preparation

1 large egg, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Procedure

For the Dough

Peel, slice the potatoes and boil them until they pierce easily with a fork. Remove them from the water and cool. Once the potatoes have cooled, force them through a potato ricer. Add egg, salt and pepper and knead thoroughly to ensure that ingredients are well combined and uniformly distributed.

For the Filling

Gently brown onion and garlic in oil. Add the chili pepper and sauté for a couple more minutes. Add ground beef and brown. Add raisins, cumin and paprika and cook briefly. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add olives and cook for a few moments longer. Add hard boiled eggs and fold in off heat.

For the Final Preparation

Use three small bowls to prepare the papas. Put flour in the first one, the beaten egg on the second one and bread crumbs in the third. Flour your hands and scoop up 1/6 of the total dough to make a round pancake with your hands. Make a slight indentation in the middle for the filling. Spoon a generous amount of filling into the center and then roll the potato closed, forming a smooth, round casing around the filling. Repeat with all the dough.

Heat oil in a pan. Dip each papa in the three bowls to coat: first roll in flour, then dip in egg, then roll in bread crumbs. Fry the papas (in batches if necessary) about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip once in the middle of frying to brown both sides.
Drain on paper towel. Serve immediately