Stuffed potatoes (papas rellenas)

The dish is a baked potato dough into which a filling made of chopped beef, olives, hard boiled eggs, cumin, pepper and other spices is stuffed. Once prepared, the stuffed potatoes are deep-fried. Potato flour is often added to give greater consistency to the dough. In some places the dish is accompanied with a fresh tomato sauce.

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• prep

  50 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 kg desiree potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp potato flour, plus extra for dusting
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 250 g beef mince
• ¼ cup tomato, peeled, chopped and seeded
• 3 black olives, seeded, chopped
• 1 ½ tbsp sultanas, chopped
• 1 tsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp chopped coriander
• ½ tsp paprika
• oil, for deep-frying
• cooked Spanish style rice and salsa criolla (see Note), to serve

The following recipe has been tested and edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the podcast.

Cooling time 20 minutes

Instructions

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add potatoes and 3 eggs. Lower heat to a simmer, cook eggs for 8 minutes, remove and place in cold water. Continue cooking potatoes for a further 5 minutes or until tender. Drain potatoes and set aside in a colander for 2 minutes, then place back into saucepan over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally until excess steam has evaporated. Mash potato, add remaining raw egg, potato flour and season to taste. Mash to combine and set aside to cool.

To make the filling, peel and dice the hard boiled eggs and set aside. Heat olive oil in a frypan. Add the onions and fry over medium heat until golden. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until mellowed. Raise heat to high, add the beef mince and chopped tomatoes. Use a wooden spoon to stir and break up the mince. Fry for 5 minutes until almost cooked through, then add chopped olives, boiled eggs and sultanas, parsley and coriander. Season with salt, pepper and paprika, stir together, then set aside for 20 minutes to cool.

Pour oil into a deep saucepan and heat to 180˚C.

Sprinkle your hands with extra potato flour and grab a portion of the mash (about ⅓ cup) and flatten it into a disc (about 13 cm wide) in the palm of your hand. Place one-eighth (about 2 tbsp) of the meat filling in the centre of the mash potato. Fold over the edges, press together and form into an oval shape. Roll lightly in potato flour, shaking off excess, then deep-fry in small batches for 3-5 minutes or until browned. Serve with rice and salsa criolla.

Note

• To cook Spanish-style rice, soften a diced onion in olive oil, add rice and chicken stock and simmer until rice has absorbed liquid. Salsa criolla varies according to region, but is commonly finely diced red capsicum, tomato, red onion, garlic and parsley, dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil.

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Michelle Noerianto. Food preparation by Nick Banbury.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.