Pastel de Choclo is a Chilean recipe, but well worth including here as it’s absolutely delicious and can be made with any of our Mexican blends. Alternatively use some ground cumin and chilli flakes for flavour. Olives and raisins sound odd but make a huge impact in the dish which, you will notice, is, in effect, an unusual cottage pie! Use cornflour if you want a gluten-free version. serves 6-8
For the topping:
bag frozen sweetcorn (800g - 1kg)
100ml whole milk
50g butter
a sprig of basil, chopped
2 tbsp sugar
For the filling:
2 tbsp oil
carton of our Mexican spice OR 1 tbsp cumin and 1 tsp chilli flakes
2 large onions, finely chopped
750g minced beef
2 tbsp flour or corn flour
500g cooked chicken, shredded
200g pitted black olives
handful raisins
4 hardboiled eggs, chopped
Heat the oil in a casserole and gently fry the onions until soft. Add the beef and spices and fry until cooked.
Add the flour to the pan with a slosh of water, bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour.
Meanwhile make the topping: melt the butter in a large pan and add the sweetcorn. Fry until golden brown. Add the milk then blend everything until smooth. Stir in the basil.
Remove half the beef from the pan and scatter with half the chicken, olives, raisins and egg in layers. Repeat the layers.
Top with the corn, spread the sugar evenly over the top, and bake in a medium oven (180) for about 40 minutes.
Serve with a tomato salad.
Cook’s notes
The sugar on the sweetcorn makes it very sweet, as a balance to the savoury meat and olives. Either omit or scatter sparingly if you are concerned you will find it too sweet.