A few days ago, I realized my favorite food was not on the blog: Chilean Pastel de Papas Shepherd’s Pie.
So it took me less than a week to prepare it, and here you have it. It is similar to the traditional Shepherd’s Pie, but weirdly without vegetables, when so many Chilean dishes are plant-based.
Serve year around with seasonal salads, it is a popular everyday dish.
Other recipes popular in Chile with ground beef besides pastel de papas:
- Fricandela Chilean burger patty
- Ground beef and eggs scramble (Huevos con carne molida)
- Zucchini boats with rice and ground beef (Zapallitos rellenos con carne y arroz)
- Empanadas de Pino (Chilean ground beef empanadas)
- Pastel de choclo
Chilean Pastel de Papas Shepherd’s Pie
A classic Chilean dish, very simple and comforting.
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
Units
for the meat,
- 1 large onion, chopped into small cubes
- 500 grams of ground beef 90%
- salt, oil, pepper, merkén
for the mashed potatoes,
- 6 medium potatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup of warm whole milk
- Salt
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- sugar to brown
- 1/2 grilled or cooked chicken breast, optional
- 10 raisins soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes, optional
Instructions
- Cook the eggs. Place the eggs in a small pot, cook over medium-high heat. Once it starts to boil, cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain and put in cold water to stop cooking.
- Wash and peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes of the same approximate size. Place in a large pot and cover the potatoes with plenty of cold water, add salt, cover and cook over medium-high heat. Once it is boiling, lower the heat to medium and cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked and easily pierced with a fork.
- While the potatoes are cooking, in a big skillet, heat over medium heat, one tablespoon of oil, add the onion and occasionally cook, stirring until it is translucent about 5 minutes, add the meat and let cook for 2-3 minutes without moving it to brown, stir and continue cooking. Add salt, pepper, and merkén to taste.
- Strain the potatoes and return to the pot. With a masher or a fork, grind the potatoes, add the butter and half of the warm milk, let stand covered for a few minutes, stir well and taste, adjust the salt, add more milk until it is of the consistency of a puree.
- In an oven dish, assemble the pie, place the meat first, and distribute the chicken, raisins, and hard-boiled egg in order if used.
- Put the mashed potatoes in generous tablespoons and then spread to cover everything.
- Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- If it is all hot, you can place it under the oven’s grill for 5-8 minutes until it is browned and serve immediately.
- The usual thing is to re-heat in a preheated oven to 200C or 400F until it is bubbling at the edges and browned on top, up 30-40 minutes.
- Or you can keep it refrigerated for up to 3 days and bake before serving.
- Serve hot and with the sugar bowl.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Savory
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 654
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 206.8 mg
- Fat: 23.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 62.7 g
- Fiber: 8.4 g
- Protein: 46.2 g
Keywords: chilean cuisine, pastel de papas, Chilean Shepherd's Pie
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