Chilean Pastel de Choclo
Pastel de choclo is a corn casserole that is popular throughout South America. The main layer is ‘pino’, ground meat fried with onions and typical South American spices. The corn is blended with fresh basil leaves and caramelized in the oven. Traditional fillings are olives and boiled eggs, and sometimes cooked chicken. As always, we kept it simple, and you can skip a layer or make it vegetarian.
Ingredients
Shopping list
- 1 lb ground beef or poultry or mixed
- 2 lb corn kernels
- 8 leaves largefresh basil
- 1 cup black olives pitted
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs sliced
- milk
- sugar
- 1 tbsp butter
- vegetable oil
- salt
Optional
- raisins
- fresh side salad
Culinary Spice
- Aji panca, cumin
Instructions
Corn Paste
- In a FOOD PROCESSOR, mix corn and basil with a little milk into a creamy paste.
- In a POT, cook the corn paste with butter and salt to taste over low heat for about 20 minutes until it thickens. Stir frequently.
Pino Filling
- In a PAN, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat.
- Fry onions until they turn translucent.
- Add meat, Pastel de Choclo spices, and salt to taste.
- Stir-fry meat until it’s crumbled and cooked. Set aside.
Assembling
- Coat a BAKING DISH with oil.
- Fill it in layers, starting with the meat, add eggs, olives, and optional raisins.
- Finish with a thick layer of the corn paste.
- Sprinkle the top thinly with sugar.
Bake
- Preheat OVEN to 350°F.
- Bake the pastel de choclo in the OVEN until the sugar turns brown.
Serve
- Serve the pastel de choclo with a fresh salad of your choice (optional).
- Enjoy!
Notes
▪ Substitute ground meat (all or partly) with chopped vegetables, for instance, eggplants, zucchini, or mushrooms.
▪ Substitute black olives with green olives.
▪ Add a small carrot (thinly sliced) to the ground meat.
▪ Add cooked chicken (bone- and skinless, shredded) as the second layer, on top of the ground meat.