Bienvenidos a Havana, mi Phoodies! Today we are adding to our latin cuisine recipes with a dish that can be commonly found in south Florida and Central America, Papa Rellena (stuffed potatoes). These are amazing all-in-one little meals, and can be prepared in advance and frozen. So while they do take some work to make initially, they are a very convenient meal for later.

Now you’ve heard of Chile Relleno, this is the mashed potato version for those of you who don’t like the heat of the poblano pepper. These honestly can be eaten by themselves, but pair very nicely with our cuban black beans. They also go very well with Sriracha…but that can really be said for anything.

If you’ve ever had a pastie, samosa, fatayer, sfiha, shepherd’s pie, pot pie or any variation of these, Papa Rellena is the latin cousin. Just as delicious, and just as good for you…which is to say not at all good for you, but perfect if you feel like hibernating.

Prep-time: 1 hour (lot of work initially, but worth it for the later ease)

Cook-time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. beef
• 1 large yellow onion, finely minced
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 green bell peppers, finely chopped
• 1 – 6oz. can tomato paste
• 2 T. white vinegar
• 2-4 T. ground cumin
• 5 lb. russet potatoes
• fresh cilantro (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups AP flour
• One canister plain bread crumbs

1) In a large pan, add 2 T. olive oil, onion, and garlic on place over high heat.

 

2) Thoroughly sauté garlic and onion until it begins to caramelize.

3) Add beef to pan, and cook until browned.

4) Add cumin, tomato paste, green pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper, and reduce heat to medium.

5) Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, tasting and adjusting salt an cumin levels as desired.

6) Remove from heat, and add fresh chopped cilantro (optional). Set aside to cool to room temperature.

7) So in the mess of stuffing, we forgot to take pictures…but you will get the general idea ;). Peel potatoes and chop into cubes for boiling.

8) In heavily salted water, bring potatoes to boil until tender.

9) Drain boiled potatoes.

10) Mash potatoes with 2 t. salt until there are no more large lumps.

11) Set hot potatoes aside (the colder they get, they more difficult they are to work with…you want them easy to handle without burning your hands, but still hot so they work into balls more easily).

12) Set up your battering station with one bowl of AP flour, one bowl of beaten eggs, and one bowl of bread crumbs. Also prepare a parchment lined baking dish on which to place to completed Papa Rellena.

13) Seriously…if you haven’t bought some latex gloves for you kitchen yet, you need to for this next step. Grab a handful of potato, and flatten out into the palm of one hand. Spoon a healthy amount of meat mixture into the potato, and then add a little more potato to the top. Work potatoes to seal the meat into the center of the ball.

14) Place stuffed potato ball into the bowl of flour until evenly coated. Transition ball from hand to hand a few times to remain excess flour.

15) Place flour coated ball into beaten eggs, and coat well and evenly.

16) Place egg coated ball into bread crumb bowl and coat evenly. Again, transition ball from hand to hand to remove excess bread crumbs.

17) Place finished balls on parchment lined baking dish.

18) Place in freezer for at least 1-2 hours before frying. You can also freeze them, and then place in ziplock bags for another day.

19) To cook, deep fry the frozen balls for approximately 5 minutes. They should be golden brown when done.

20) Place fried Papa Rellena on paper towel lined platter to drain excess oil.

21) Serve warm with black beans, or sauce of your choosing. Some people love these with ranch, but I go Sriracha all the way.

22) Enjoy, then take a nap.

 

– The Phoody