Pastel de Choclo (Week 74, Chile)

This recipe is a part of my Global Vegan Challenge where each week I research and develop a recipe from a different country in the world. Many of these recipes are veganized based off their omnivore counterparts. While not all of these recipes are a one for one what you’ll find in their country, I hope you’ll still find them delicious!

Recipe Notes

In lieu of using beef, I subbed for the vegan Impossible meat. If you don’t want to use faux meats, I’d recommend using some type of bean, perhaps lentils or another that might be native to Chile.

Normally this dish also has hard boiled eggs, sliced or split layered into the middle. I thought about maybe using black salt to make potato-y flavored eggs, dropping in some black-salted firm tofu chunks, or even scrambling up some vegan Just Egg but with all of the goodness in it already I omitted it all together.

Vegan Pastel de Choclo

Details

Servings

10 to 12 servings

Prep time

20 minutes

Cooking time

60 minutes

Ingredients

Jackfruit “Chicken”
40 ounces Young Jackfruit (2 cans)
2 cups Vegan Chicken Flavored Broth (I used Better Than Bullion No Chicken)
1 tablespoon Vegan Butter
1 teaspoon Salt
Vegan Beef
24 ounces of Impossible Ground “Beef” (or similar vegan ground beef)
1 cup Raisins
1 cup Beefless Broth
8 Garlic Cloves
1 Yellow Onion
1 1/2 tablespoon Cumin, ground
1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
1 tablespoon Vegan Butter
2 teaspoons Salt
Corn
2 1/2 lbs Corn (about 6 cups)
2 cups Vegan Milk
1 cup Basil, fresh
2 tablespoons Vegan Butter
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Assembly
6 ounces Black Olives (1 can, drained)
1/2 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Directions

Begin preparing jackfruit “chicken”. Drain jackfruit cans and shred into pieces. Place in a bowl and cover with chickenless flavored broth. Set aside.
Prepare “beef” produce. Dice onions and mince garlic. Set aside.
Place corn in a blender with vegan milk and salt. Blend until it’s a textured liquid, but do not juice/liquify.
Note: The following steps can be prepared in tandem. I start with my corn, then jackfruit, then beef. You should be checking on each ingredient, mixing as you go until each is ready and to prevent burning.
Corn
Add blended corn and butter to a medium pot. Simmer until mixture becomes thick, about 20 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
Slice basil leaves into ribbons. Set aside.
Once corn is fully cooked and thickened, remove from heat. Fold in basil, and leave uncovered until ready to assemble.
Jackfruit “Chicken”
Add butter to a frying pan on medium high heat. Add Jackfruit with half of vegetable stock and sauté. Continue to sauté and add in vegetable stock until vegetable stock has all cooked off, about 20 minutes.
Once jackfruit is ready, taste test for saltiness. If salty enough, omit salt or add more to taste. Set aside.
Vegan Beef
Add butter to a frying pan over medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, and half of salt. Sauté until onions become translucent.
Add vegan beef, paprika, cumin, and remaining salt. Sauté until beef turns brown, about 15 minutes.
Once beef has browned, add raisins and beefless stock. Sauté until raisins have absorbed the liquid. Set aside.
Assembly
Pre-heat oven to 400F.
In a baking pan, ladle 2 to 3 spoonfuls of the corn mixture and spread across the bottom.
Add beefless mixture, spreading a even layer across the pan.
Add jackfruit “chicken” mixture, spreading a even layer across the pan.
Place black olives evenly though out the mixture (it’s ok if you don’t use them all – you can save some as optional garnish).
Ladle remaining corn mixture over the top of the dish. Spread to cover all ingredients. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the dish.
Place in oven and allow to cook for 20 minutes, or until top has caramelized.
Once caramelized, remove from oven and serve immediately. Enjoy hot!