RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Karen Selwyn Lunch/Dinner: Sephardic Beef, Potato and Egg Casserole/Pastel - meat
This is a family recipe from Toto Mechali, an owner of a gourmet grocery store in the Baltimore area. Mechali’s family can trace its roots to Spain to a time before Ferdinand and Isabella’s 1492 edict of expulsion that sent the country’s Jews fleeing to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe. Karen Selwyn * * * * * * * Sephardic Beef, Potato and Egg Casserole: Pastel Serves 6 as a main course, more as a side dish 12 medium potatoes 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste, divided 1 teaspoon chopped garlic 1/2 teaspoon saffron, or turmeric 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons canola oil 6 eggs, hard-boiled, then peeled and sliced Boil potatoes with skins until cooked; set aside. Saute meat in pan and add 1 teaspoon salt and garlic. Peel potatoes and mash in bowl, adding saffron, salt, pepper and oil. In greased 9-inch-by-11-inch pan with sides, create layers approximately 1/4 inch thick: First, pat down a layer of mashed potato, cover with ground meat, add slices of eggs, create another layer of mashed potato on top and repeat from the beginning, creating 2 to 3 layers of each. The top layer should be potato. Put pan into oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then broil for 5 minutes to make the top potato layer crisp. Source: "Mediterranean Meal: Passover foods are rooted in Judaic history" Gerri Kobren BALTIMORE SUN/SUN SPOT
