Pastel de papas
1.Take a large pot, filled with water halfway set on stove on high
2.Peel 9 large potatoes, slice them and add them to the pot of water
3.Once cooked approx after 30 minutes drain the water and mash the potatoes
4.Add ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ cup of milk and mix it all to a smooth texture and set aside
5.Take a deep skillet, add 2 tablespoons of oil and set on a stove on medium
6.Take one medium onion and chop it to small pieces and add to the skillet
7.Cook the onion for about 7 minutes while mixing the onions
8.Add 2 lb of ground beef to the onions and cook for about 8-10 minutes
9.Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, ½ teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of paprika. Mix it all together
10.Add 1 can of tomato sauce, mix it, cover and let it cook for about 20 minutes while mixing it occasionally
11.Take a large glass pyrex and spray it lightly with oil
12.Take ⅓ of the mash potatoes and create a smooth layer on the pyrex
13.Add the beef with the sauce on top of the potato layer
14.Add the ⅔ remaining mash potatoes and layer them gently on top of the meat
15.Spread ¼ of Parmesan cheese on top of the complete dish
16.Put it in the pre heated oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes
17.Remove out the oven when top layer is slightly brown
18.Serve while hot and enjoy
My mother and her family are originally from Brazil. I remember ever since I was a little boy my mom cooking this dish that was a common dish at her house which she learned from her mother, my grandmother. This dish always makes me feel at home.
The pastel de papas is one of my most favorite childhood dishes. It's very important to me and to my culture specifically as embedded into my Brazilian heritage. The pastel de papas originated in South America and eventually spread to each country having its own type of pastel de papas. The pastel de papas is like the shepherd's pie.
The pastel de papas is very generational and has much development as it started with my grandmother who started creating this dish and was a huge thing in my mothers childhood as well and was also one of my mothers favorite dishes as well because of the delicious spices and meat.
I never personally ever cooked this dish ever but I have seen sometimes my mom creating the dish. I would see her hard at work creating the dish and it looked delicious every step. I could smell the great spices of the onion and the smell I remember the most from the cooking is the meat smashed with the mashed potatoes and it was an amazing smell like I was tasting it.
My mother would always talk to me about this dish and it was always fascinating about how her mother would create it or my grandmother would make it. It was always fun to listen to. My mother and grandmother were always very passionate about this dish as this was a development through generations that this dish is a very important recipe.
This recipe is always gonna to be one of my favorite dishes I ever had and realizing this too it's always going to be very important to me and to my heritage and my entire family and to me I might eventually cook this too in the future and continue the development of this recipe and myself. I want to carry this recipe through my heritage and eventually teach someone it too.