Don Diego's Papas Rellenas Peruanas

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg potatoes
• 2 eggs
• Salt
• 200 g minced beef
• 1 onion(s), finely chopped
• 30 g raisins
• 8 black olives, pitted and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• salt and pepper
• 2 corn cobs (or 1 small can of corn)
• 3 large onions, red, cut into wedges
• 2 lemons, the juice
• ½ tsp sauce, ají (pepper sauce)
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• 4 lettuce leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

fried potato dumplings with meat filling from Peru

The onion salsa, the obligatory accompaniment to papas rellenas, needs to simmer for at least half an hour, preferably a little longer. Therefore, we begin by slicing the red onions into wafer-thin wedges. Add salt and a little pepper, peppercorn sauce, chopped parsley, and the juice of two lemons, and stir through. Set aside. Place the peeled and diced potatoes on the pan and cook until soft. Allow to cool thoroughly, season with salt, and press the potatoes through a potato ricer while still warm. Beat two eggs into the potato mixture and set aside. This should form a firm, relatively dry potato dough. The meat filling will be familiar to fans of northern Argentinian empanadas. It is used, with slight regional variations, in many dishes in the Andean highlands. For this, a finely chopped onion is sautéed with chopped garlic in a little oil. Then the ground beef is added and cooked until crumbly. Gradually add raisins soaked in hot water, a handful of coarsely chopped black olives, and the chopped hard-boiled eggs. Season the mixture with cumin, salt, and pepper. At this point, heat the frying oil and cook the corn on the cob. With wet hands, form the potato dough into balls the size of German potato dumplings. I mean real dumplings, like the ones your mother used to make. Make another hollow in the center of these balls to accommodate a tablespoon or more of the meat filling. Now fold up the edges to “hide” the meat filling. This is easier by tucking in some extra potato dough. Add the finished stuffed potatoes to the hot oil and fry until golden brown (3-5 minutes). Serve on a plate with a portion of onion salsa wrapped in a lettuce leaf and one or two slices of corn on the cob.