Papas rellenas, or stuffed potatoes, are fried balls of mashed potatoes with a delicious filling. This vegan, Peruvian version is filled with blended walnuts, raisins, and olives. Serve with salsa criolla, a salsa made from raw onion, lime, and fresh chilies.
Servings 4papas rellenas
Equipment
blender or food processor
Ingredients
Potato dough
500gpotatoes, boiled
1tbspall-purpose flourif needed
Filling
100mLwalnuts
¼onion
1clovegarlic
1tspminced chili or chili paste, or to tastesee note
1tbsptomato pure
1tspcumin
1tsppaprika
6olives
1tbspraisins
extra firm tofuoptional, see note
For frying
4tbspall-purpose flour
plant-based milk, unsweetenedif needed
vegetable oil, such as canola
Salsa criolla
½red onion
1pepper, to tastee.g. jalapeño; see note
50mLcilantro
1lime
1tspvegetable oil, such as canola
salt to taste
Instructions
Salsa criolla
Salsa criolla is best to prepare a bit in advance so it can rest for about 30 min.
Finely slice the red onion. Deseed and slice the pepper. Adjust the amount to suit you.Chop the cilantro.
Mix in a bowl, add juice from one lime, a pinch of salt, and a bit of canola oil. Mix and set aside.
Potato dough
Peel, cube and boil the potatoes if not already done. Drain and let them cool slightly and mash them with a potato masher to form a smooth mash. Set aside to cool.
Try shaping the dough into a ball. It should hold its shape and be easy to work with. You might have to add a little flour to make it firmer.
Filling
Optional: soak the walnuts for 30 min to remove some bitterness.
Quickly pulse the walnuts in a blender to create crumbs.
Mince onion and garlic. Mince fresh chili if using.
Add onion and garlic to a pan on medium to high heat. Sweat until translucent and fragrant.
Add cumin, paprika, salt, tomato pure, chili paste or fresh chilis. Stir.
Add the ground walnuts. Stir. If it looks dry, add a bit of water to help the mixing.
Cook for 10+ minutes, adding water if needed. The final filling should be quite dry.
Chop olives and add to the pan. Add raisins.
Set aside to cool slightly-
Assembly
When the potato dough and filling are cool enough to handle, assemble the papas rellenas.
Place some flour on a plate.
Take 1/4 of the potato dough (if making 4, ~500 g potatoes) and form a ball. It's size should be somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball. If the dough is sticking to your hands, you can dust your hands with flour.
Flatten the ball into a disc-like bowl, about 1 cm thick. Place two spoons of filling in the potato bowl and carefully close the bowl around it.Tidy up the potato ball, shaping it into something resembling a lemon.
Roll the papa rellena in some flour. If the flour does not stick, try brushing the potato ball with some water or plant-based milk.
Heat about 1 cm oil in a small pan. When it is hot, add the papa rellena and fry it about 1 min per side, turning it often. When it is golden all around, it ready. Place on a plate with some kitchen wipes.
Continue making papas rellenas and frying.
You can also prepare all papas rellenas before frying. Place them on a plate with a light dusting of flour while they wait.
Serve the papas rellenas with your fresh salsa criolla.
Notes
Chili in filling: See the text in the blog post about Peruvian chilis. Ideally, you would find fresh aji amarillo or aji panca. You can substitute with a medium-heat chili like serrano peppers. Alternatively, you could find some Peruvian chili paste to use. I found some aji amarillo paste at my local Latin American store which I used in the filling.Extra firm tofu chopped into small chunks can be used to add a texture element mimicking that of boiled eggs in omnivore Peruvian papas rellenas.Chili in salsa criolla: use a chili with a heat suitable for your taste. You can use bell pepper if you prefer.