Pastel de Papas
Continuing my theme of dishes discovered in Buenos Aires, I give you pastel de papas! It’s an Argentine version of Shepard’s pie. Instead of topping the dish with regular potatoes this one uses a mixture of sweet potatoes and summer squash seasoned with nutmeg. The meat filling consists of ground beef, olives, raisins soaked in red wine, hard-boiled eggs, onions and garlic. The dish originates from northern Argentina and is a house specialty at the restaurant I discovered it at, La Querencia. You will not be disappointed with this one! The recipe will serve 4 people.
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef
½ onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
6 Spanish green olives, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
1 beef bouillon cube
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup dry red wine
10 oz. squash, boiled and cooled
2 sweet potatoes, boiled and cooled
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoons sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Brown the ground beef in a saute pan with the minced onion and garlic.
Next, add the allspice, pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, olives and eggs. Mix together thoroughly.
Add the water, bouillon cube and bay leaf.
Cook until the liquid has evaporated.
Next, soak the raisins in the wine.
As soon as the water has evaporated, add the raisins and wine and continue to cook until the wine evaporates.
Mash the sweet potatoes and squash together in a mixing bowl. Season with nutmeg and add the butter and milk and whip until smooth.
Place the meat mixture into a casserole dish.
Top the meat with the pureed sweet potato and squash mixture.
Sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of sugar and cook in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.
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