Every year for Rosh Hashana our extended family gets together at my sister Sharon’s house for dinner. Since she’s doing most of the serious cooking I try and contribute something snazzy as an appetizer or side dish. This year my wife found a recipe in the newspaper that fit the bill.
Papas Rellenas is a Cuban dish, whose name literally means re-stuffed potatoes. Picture mashed potatoes with a flavourful ground beef centre (known as picadillo), breaded and deep-fried. How can you go wrong? It was a smashing success with both the kids and the adults, so they will definitely be on the dinner menu again shortly.
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Papas Rellenas
Serves: 8 to 10
Adapted from Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Ingredients:
12 medium red potatoes, about 3 pounds, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Mexican taco seasoning
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 eggs, beaten
3 cups plain bread crumbs
2 cups vegetable oil
Preparation:
- In a large saucepan, add potatoes and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cooking until potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and mash with salt and pepper, to taste. Allow to cool.
- While potatoes are cooking, in another large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add onions and green pepper and cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, and ground beef and cook until the beef is browned, about 10 minutes.
- Break up the beef while it’s cooking so everything is a fine consistency. Drain off any fat.
- Add the wine, tomatoes, Mexican seasoning, cilantro, cumin and pepper, and cook until the mixture is dry. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool.
- When potatoes and picadillo are cool, beat the eggs in a small bowl, and put the bread crumbs on a large plate.
- Using your hands, form 2 tablespoons of potatoes into a ball and press an opening in the centre. Stuff with picadillo, then add potato to cover the opening.
- Roll to make a neat ball and then dip into the egg mixture. Dredge with bread crumbs to cover thoroughly. Refrigerate the balls for 30 minutes.
- In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees. Add the balls a few at a time and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Let me know how they turn out Maria – enjoy!
Wow – those look and sound sooo good! I will try them this weekend.
Steve – the papas reminded me a lot of making spring rolls or cabbage rolls. Not the kind of undertaking you want to do weekly as they do take a little time. Next time I’d probably make 3x the amount and freeze them for later use. That being said, they were well worth the effort – DELICIOUS!
In general, I only post recipes that are easy. It’s very rare that I’ll post any steps that require any significant cullinary skills.
How much time does it take to make? What do you think of adding in estimated preparation time to your recipes? Maybe you can also add in level of difficulty?