AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DISHES: #1 PERU - PAPAS RELLENAS

I have embarked on a culinary adventure! Hurrah! I intend to pick 80 countries and cook a dish from each of them in a Greedy Mancunian food voyage. I look forward to trying and sharing some interesting  world cuisine dishes. So....... here I go....... first stop on my voyage is Peru.

The Peruvian dish I have decided to try out is Papas Rellenas.

The dish is a filled mashed potato stuffed with a minced beef mix and coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. I was expecting it to be quite heavy and a bit greasy, but found it to be quite the opposite - it was very tasty!

Firstly peel & boil some potatoes (use some good mashers) once cooked through, mash til smooth and leave to cool. Once cool mix in a large egg and kneed to make your dough. 

For the filling you will need the following:

2 large cloves of garlic

Half an onion finely chopped

Half a green bell pepper finely chopped

10-12 black olives sliced

3 tsps capers

Half tsp of chili powder

Half tsp of cumin

Half tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of oregano

3 tablespoons of tomato purée

Squeeze of lime juice

500g of minced beef steak

1 bay leaf

In a large pan heat some olive oil and throw in the onions & press the garlic. Once the onions have softened throw in the steak mince and brown, breaking it up with a spoon as it fries. Throw in all the other ingredients and cook on a low heat for 15mins. Let the mixture cool.

Taking some of your potato dough, form a flat pancake and put a spoon or 2 of the filling mix in the centre. Fold the potato around the filling to form a large ball.

Fill 3 bowls - one with plain flour, a pinch of chili powder & a tsp of cinnamon. One with a beaten egg with a dash of water. And the final bowl with breadcrumbs mixed with oregano. 

Dip your large balls first in the flour until coated, then dip in the egg, finally into the breadcrumbs again til fully coated. Drop balls in a pan of boiling sunflower oil and deep fry until golden.

Slice in half and serve with a salad drizzled with lime juice.

Delicious!

So that was my first visit on my Around the World in 80 Dishes!

Countries to go: 79

Countries done:

#1 Peru

Keep following the Greedy Mancunians to see what country I 'visit' next!