As you can probably gather from my family profile, I love Peruvian food. The first time i had causa was at my in-laws vow-renewal. The mixture of tart potatoes and spicy aji pepper with familiar chicken salad and creamy avocado was heaven. I ate a tray all by myself. Enjoy!  

PERUVIAN CAUSA RELLENA

 

Ingredients

2 lbs. yellow potatoes ( Yukon gold)
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup lime juice (mix with key limes, if available)
2 -3 tablespoons aji amarillo peppers (my in-laws always bring this for us from Miami)
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken salad (used as filling, I typically buy this premade)
2 -3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into rounds
6 -8 pitted black olives
Sliced avocado

Directions

  1. Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are tender and cooked through. Drain and set aside to cool.
  2. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them. Put the potatoes through a ricer or mash with a potato masher until smooth. Stir in the oil, aji pepper, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Line a casserole dish or baking pan with plastic wrap, pressing it down to fit the dish. Spread half the potatoes into the bottom of the dish and smooth out. Spread chicken salad evenly over the potatoes. Layer sliced avocado over chicken salad. Spread the remaining potatoes evenly over the filling (chicken salad and avocado). Press down gently to firm up your causa. Cover and chill thoroughly.
  4. Lay a serving platter upside-down over the top of the causa dish. Using both hands, flip the dish and platter over, letting the causa fall onto the platter. Remove and discard the plastic wrap.
  5. Garnish the causa decoratively with the hard-boiled eggs and olives and, if you like, a sauce. Cut into portions and serve.

Notes:

If I don’t have a large group, I use a round spring form pan – it shows off the layers and makes it look fancy

You can substitute chicken salad with tuna salad, ahi tuna, shrimp, crab salad

My mother-in-law has substituted the avocado with beets

As an appetizer, you can roll the potato mixture into ½ inch balls, top with chicken salad/filling of choice, and drizzle with huancaina sauce or Peruvian mayonnaise

You can garnish the causa with cilantro, tomatoes, shrimp, lime - use your imagination

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