Papa Rellenas

POTATO BALLS

Check out my Picadillo Recipe before making the Papa Rellenas.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut in 1-inch cubes

• ½ cup milk

• 2 tablespoons melted butter

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• Italian breadcrumbs

• eggs

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• Picadillo, chilled

• Mashed potato, chilled

1. Peel potatoes and wash. Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Add them to a pot of cold water and set to boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender but not mushy. In a sauce pan, add milk and butter. Warm until the butter has just melted.

   
   

2. Drain potatoes. Return them to pot and mash them with a hand mixer. There shouldn’t be any water or lumps in the potatoes.

   
   

3. Add the milk and butter to the potatoes and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool. Refrigerate 4 hours.

   
   

4. In a bowl, whisk eggs until they are liquified. In a tray or shallow plate, add Italian breadcrumbs. Dust one hand with breadcrumbs to avoid the mashed potato sticking to your hand. Add ¼ cup of mashed potatoes to your hand and flatten like a pancake.

   
   

5. Add ¼ cup of picadillo. Start forming a blow in your hand with the potatoes. Add ¼ of potatoes on top and make sure the potato is covering the picadillo and it’s formed into a ball. Roll and cover it in the breadcrumbs and freeze for 40 minutes.

   
   

6. Take them out and dip in egg wash, drain well and cover in breadcrumbs. Freeze for 20 more minutes and coat them again in egg wash and breadcrumbs one more time. Once they are all breaded, freeze for 35-45 minutes.

   
   

7. Heat up oil in a deep pot or use a deep fryer. Heat up oil to 325 degrees F. Carefully add one at a time, no more than 2 to 3 at a time. Fry until golden brown. If you over fry, they will crack. Carefully drain them onto a paper towel. Transfer the to a sheet pan with parchment paper to a 200- degree F oven for 10 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute and serve.