With more than seven varieties of corn throughout the Atacama Desert, it’s no surprise their most popular dish has maize as the main ingredient. Also known as corn choclo, this dish is indigenous to the region. It’s made with fresh ground corn and mixed with ground beef, chicken, olives and onions and traditionally served in an earthenware bowl called a paila. Here is how to make Pastel De Choclo.
Serves 10
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 lb skinless chicken breasts
5 cups chicken broth
6 large ears of yellow corn, kernels grated
1/4 bunch of basil leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large Spanish onions, chopped
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup black olives
½ cup raisins
1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover chicken breasts with broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Turn heat off and allow chicken to remain in broth for 15–20 minutes. Remove and shred with fork. Set aside.
Using a box grater, grate the corn kernels into a bowl. Or you can cut kernels from the cob and pulse in a food processor. Heat grated kernels, basil, salt and butter in pot. Add milk and stir continuously until consistency is batter-like. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes and then set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add onions and sauté until translucent. Add ground beef and cook through. Season with salt and pepper.
Place beef-onion mixture in the bottom of a large glass casserole dish. Arrange hard-boiled egg slices, olives, raisins and shredded chicken on top. Cover with the corn mixture and sprinkle the top with confectioners’ sugar.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately.
