Bolivia: Papa Rellenas - Filled Potatoes
This dish was not supposed to be on the menu for Bolivia.
Originally, I wanted to cook saltenas, Bolivia's versions of empanadas. They're not typically vegetarian, but I found a recipe that I thought would be satisfactory. Everything was going to be absolutely fine, until I realised that saltenas, even vegetarian ones, require gelatine (or a vegetarian gelatine). I had definitely well and truly missed this one on my grocery list when I was shopping for the ingredients for the next few meals in Cook The World. I searched everywhere online for a saltena recipe online that didn't contain gelatine, but alas.
So instead, we have papa rellenas (papas = potatoes in Spanish, and rellenas = filled). I'm pretty sure that they originated in Peru, but are eaten throughout Bolivia as well. Either way, according to Wikipedia, they're the most popular croquette in Latin America, and were recorded for the first time on the continent in the 19th century when French and Italian cuisine was on the rise and influencing recipes in the Americas.
Most papa rellenas recipes use beef or chicken to stuff their potatoes. I used Quorn mince. It was my first time ever cooking with Quorn (although I have eaten it previously), and it was quite an experience. It has a significantly shorter cooking time than beef mince and it dried out quite quickly as well so I had to keep adding tablespoons of water to moisten it up a bit.
Stuffing the papas was somewhat of a nightmare. The first one went quite well, but all of the others basically fell apart in my hands. It didn't help that I used significantly more potato in the first and second ball, meaning that the third and fourth was lacking. I also feel like they weren't stuffed particularly full - I had far too much stuffing left at the end of the process, although I do think my portions were wrong. The mashed potato kept falling apart and I was definitely swearing far too much. I'm reminded actually of when I was cooking my Argentinian empanadas - I had a similar reaction to the dough, so maybe it's just South American food that I find tricky to cook.
Frying the papa rellenas was difficult too. Putting them onto the pan is fine, but when it comes to rotating them to get each side of them crispy, it was a two-person job. I had to call Nick into the kitchen to help me, and we ended up using kitchen tongs and a fish slice to turn each stuffed potato.
However, they turned out pretty great. The Quorn mince had raisins, olives, parsley and eggs added to it, so it was a savoury sweet stuffing, and fried mash potato is always a winner in my book - crispy on the outside, and soft in the middle. Delicious. I do feel like the potato-stuffing ration was not right (there was significantly more potato than stuffing), but I spooned some extra stuffing onto the side and that worked out alright. Nick mentioned that he could tell that there was a difference in taste between Quorn mince and beef mince, but I feel like that would be obvious from the get go. Either way, I thought that the papa rellenas were overall satisfactory, and they made a great lunch the following day!
I used an adapted version of this recipe here.
Papa Rellenas - Stuffed Potatoes
Makes 4
Ingredients
Originally, I wanted to cook saltenas, Bolivia's versions of empanadas. They're not typically vegetarian, but I found a recipe that I thought would be satisfactory. Everything was going to be absolutely fine, until I realised that saltenas, even vegetarian ones, require gelatine (or a vegetarian gelatine). I had definitely well and truly missed this one on my grocery list when I was shopping for the ingredients for the next few meals in Cook The World. I searched everywhere online for a saltena recipe online that didn't contain gelatine, but alas.
So instead, we have papa rellenas (papas = potatoes in Spanish, and rellenas = filled). I'm pretty sure that they originated in Peru, but are eaten throughout Bolivia as well. Either way, according to Wikipedia, they're the most popular croquette in Latin America, and were recorded for the first time on the continent in the 19th century when French and Italian cuisine was on the rise and influencing recipes in the Americas.
Most papa rellenas recipes use beef or chicken to stuff their potatoes. I used Quorn mince. It was my first time ever cooking with Quorn (although I have eaten it previously), and it was quite an experience. It has a significantly shorter cooking time than beef mince and it dried out quite quickly as well so I had to keep adding tablespoons of water to moisten it up a bit.
Stuffing the papas was somewhat of a nightmare. The first one went quite well, but all of the others basically fell apart in my hands. It didn't help that I used significantly more potato in the first and second ball, meaning that the third and fourth was lacking. I also feel like they weren't stuffed particularly full - I had far too much stuffing left at the end of the process, although I do think my portions were wrong. The mashed potato kept falling apart and I was definitely swearing far too much. I'm reminded actually of when I was cooking my Argentinian empanadas - I had a similar reaction to the dough, so maybe it's just South American food that I find tricky to cook.
Frying the papa rellenas was difficult too. Putting them onto the pan is fine, but when it comes to rotating them to get each side of them crispy, it was a two-person job. I had to call Nick into the kitchen to help me, and we ended up using kitchen tongs and a fish slice to turn each stuffed potato.
However, they turned out pretty great. The Quorn mince had raisins, olives, parsley and eggs added to it, so it was a savoury sweet stuffing, and fried mash potato is always a winner in my book - crispy on the outside, and soft in the middle. Delicious. I do feel like the potato-stuffing ration was not right (there was significantly more potato than stuffing), but I spooned some extra stuffing onto the side and that worked out alright. Nick mentioned that he could tell that there was a difference in taste between Quorn mince and beef mince, but I feel like that would be obvious from the get go. Either way, I thought that the papa rellenas were overall satisfactory, and they made a great lunch the following day!
Papa Rellenas - Stuffed Potatoes
Makes 4
Ingredients
- 500g potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 250g Quorn mince
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1 hard boiled egg, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup olives, sliced (you're supposed to use black but I had green so used those instead)
- Salt and pepper
- Handful of parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until they are tender. Once cooked, drain the water and mash the potatoes. Add salt and pepper, and cover while you cook the filling.
- In a saucepan, heat the oil over a high heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomato paste and mix in.
- Add the Quorn mince, season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the mince is cooked. If it dries out, and a tablespoon of water at a time.
- Mix in the hard boiled egg, raisins, olives, and parsley. Turn off the heat.
- In a separate bowl put the flour, and in another bowl beat the raw egg lightly.
- With floured hands, take a portion of the mashed potato and flatten it between your hands. Take a spoonful of the filling and carefully place it in the centre of the potato round. Close it with some more potato and form it in an oval shape.
- Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Carefully roll the papa rellena in the beaten egg and then the flour. Shake off the excess flour and fry in the oil until the potato turns crispy and golden. Rotate so that each side is fried evenly.
- Remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the mashed potato and filling, and serve immediately.
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