Potato Fritter with Beef (Peruvian Papa Rellena)

Papa rellena is a stuffed potato fritter. The potatoes are first mashed and then stuffed with deliciousness, like ground beef, onions, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, raisins and black olives, before being fried. Potato or papa for our Peruvian friends, is a plant. Yes, a plant that is highly consumed in Peru.

1½ lb mashed potatoes (Bintje, Charlotte, or Manon varieties)
1½ Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb ground beef or finely chopped beef)
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
½ tsp. ground chili pepper
10 black olives, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp. raisins
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour or fine breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
sea salt
vegetable oil, for frying

Cook the potatoes with their skin in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 30-40 minutes.

Peel the potatoes while still hot, and mash them immediately. Add 1½ Tbsp. of flour and mix well with your hands. Set aside.

Stuffing:
Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil on medium heat in a Dutch oven. Sauté the onions for a minute and then add the garlic. Sauté over low heat for 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes, cumin, ground chili pepper and oregano and cook gently over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add ground meat and cook covered on low to medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally add the eggs, raisins and olives and simmer over low to medium heat, covered for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

Shaping:
Dust the palm of your hands with flour. Take 1-2 Tbsp. of mashed potato and form a ball within the palms of your hands. Flatten this ball and form the shape of a circle.

In the center of the flattened potato dough, place a tsp. of stuffing. Enclose the stuffing and give an oval or torpedo shape. If it is difficult to close the papa rellena, add some mashed potato evenly on all sides to help close it.

Repeat the process until all the ingredients are used.

Heat a large pot with vegetable oil.

Gently roll each papa rellena in the flour and then in the beaten eggs. Fry for a few minutes on all sides until golden.

Serve hot, warm or cold.

Makes 6 servings.