Papas Rellenas – Peruvian Stuffed Potatoes. Mashed Potatoes, filled with a tasty ground beef filling and fried to golden perfection. This is my entry into this International YouTube collab, The Foods of Peru, (#comidaperuana), which means Peruvian food.
Peru is South America’s third-largest country and its national dish is ceviche, which is fish and seafood marinated in citrus juice.
Peru has three distinct regions within its borders. There are the Andean highlands, the coast, and the Amazon basin which is a rainforest on the eastern side of the Andean highlands. Each region has very different foods, which provide a lot of diversity within Peruvian Cuisine.
Papas Rellenas grew out of the Inca empire, during the 1300s. They started to grow potatoes on the hillsides throughout the territory they controlled. Peru is one of the first areas in the world to grow potatoes and the potato crop is still a staple throughout South America today.
Papas Rellenas is one of my favorite Peruvian dishes. It’s satisfying, bursting with flavor, and you can have it as an appetizer or entrée, hot or cold, day & night, night & day, and fill it with whatever you want.
Papas Rellenas – Peruvian Stuffed Potatoes
Papas Rellenas means “stuffed potatoes”. It is mashed potatoes with minced beef, raisins, olives, and hard-boiled egg. It is then pan-fried until it’s golden on the outside. Originally it was created as an appetizer, in most Peruvian households it’s eaten as an entrée. Serve white rice on the side. Peru is known for serving double-starch meals.
Originally, the mashed potatoes had lard and eggs in them, and the stuffing included parsley, chili peppers, almonds, and maybe even peanuts. Papas Rellenas can be made either with Peruvian yellow potatoes or with regular white potatoes. Some people add yucca to get a creamy, yet structured texture. The recipe is very flexible, as any kind of stuffing will work well with the potatoes.
This easy dish is very practical too. You can freeze it for later consumption. When you’re hungry or need a quick meal just take it out, heat it up a bit and you’re ready to go.
Equipment
- No special equipment needed
Ingredients
For the Potatoes:
- 6 medium yellow potatoes
- Kosher salt & Pepper to taste to taste
- 1 large egg
For the Filling:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp jalapeño minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 3/4 lb ground beef
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 1/3 cup raisins
For Assembling and Frying:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dusting,
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Make the Mashed Potatoes
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Cook the unpeeled potatoes until tender, about 25 min.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them
- When they cool, peel and mash the potatoes
- Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.
- Chill the potatoes uncovered for several hours
- Once the potatoes are very cold, stir the egg into the mashed potatoes until well-mixed.
Make the Filling
- Cook the egg in boiling water until hard-boiled and set aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook until soft and fragrant.
- Add the cumin and paprika and cook 2 minutes more, stirring.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
- Add the beef broth and the raisins and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until most of the liquid is gone.
- Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Peel the hard-boiled egg and chop it into about 6 pieces.
Assemble and Cook
- With floured hands, place about 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes in one hand, and make a well in the center.
- Fill the well with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture and a piece of hard-boiled egg.
- Mold the potatoes around the beef, adding more potato if necessary to fully enclose the filling.
- Shape into an oblong oval with slightly pointy ends, about the size of a medium potato.
- Repeat with the rest of the ingredients; you should be able to make 6 croquettes. Coat each papa rellena generously with flour.
- In a deep skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat 2 inches of oil to 360 F. Set the oven to 200 F.
- Fry the potatoes in batches until they are golden brown.
- Drain them on a plate lined with paper towels. Keep the papa rellena warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Video
Nutrition
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If you like this recipe for Papas Rellenas then you should try our recipe for Chicken Salad on Croissants.
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Another International Collab recipe, this time from Peru