Ingredients
Pino
- 500 gbeef (chuck or posta), in 5 mm dice
- 700 gonions, finely diced
- 60 glard or beef dripping
- 1 tbspají de color (sweet paprika)
- 2 tspground cumin
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 1 tbspplain flour
- 150 mlbeef stock
- Salt and black pepper
Choclo topping
- 1.2 kgfresh corn kernels, cut from about 8 cobs (Chilean choclo, or the starchiest sweetcorn you can find)
- 20fresh basil leaves
- 60 gbutter or lard
- 200–250 mlwhole milk
- 1 tspsalt
- 1 tspsugar
To assemble
- 4 piecesbone-in chicken thigh, poached and skinned
- 3hard-boiled eggs, sliced
- 12black olives
- 60 graisins, soaked in warm water
- 3 tbspcaster sugar, for the crust
Directions
- Sweat the onions in the lard over medium-low heat for 20–25 minutes until soft and sweet, then brown the beef briefly with them, add the spices, flour and stock and simmer 15 minutes to a loose, glossy pino. Cool.
- Poach the chicken thighs in salted water with a bay leaf for 25 minutes, then drain and pull off the skin, keeping the pieces whole and on the bone.
- Grind the raw corn kernels with the basil in a food processor, or traditionally in a stone mortar, to a coarse, still-textured purée; it should not be a smooth cream.
- Melt the butter in a wide pan, add the corn purée, salt and sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 12–15 minutes.
- Loosen with milk as it thickens until it becomes a heavy, spoon-coating porridge that holds a furrow when you drag the spoon across the pan. Undercooked, it will weep water in the oven.
- Spoon the pino into individual glazed clay dishes (pailas de greda) or one large earthenware dish, then lay on the chicken, egg slices, olives and drained raisins.
- Cover with the hot corn mixture, smoothing it to the rim so nothing pokes through, and sprinkle the surface evenly with the caster sugar.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 35–40 minutes, then finish under the grill for 3–5 minutes until the sugar caramelises to a blistered, dark-freckled crust.
- Rest 10 minutes and serve straight from the clay, with a bowl of pebre and a glass of Carménère. It is eaten sweet and savoury together, often with extra sugar sprinkled at the table.
Technique
- Chilean choclo is a large-kernelled, starchy field corn, not sweetcorn. If using sweet supermarket corn, cut the added sugar and expect a looser topping; a tablespoon of cornmeal helps it set.
- Basil in the corn is non-negotiable in central Chile and is what makes the topping smell like summer rather than like creamed corn.
- Greda clay dishes hold heat and are how it reaches the table still bubbling; a cast-iron or stoneware dish is the closest substitute.
Substitutions
- Frozen corn kernels work out of season: thaw, drain well and add less milk.
- The dish can be made with pino alone, no chicken, and is still recognisably a pastel de choclo.
Variations
- Pastel de jaiba replaces the pino with crab meat in a white sauce, a Chiloé and coastal speciality.
- Some southern versions layer in sliced boiled potato beneath the pino.
History
Ground corn baked over a meat filling in a clay dish, joining Indigenous maize to Spanish beef and chicken; a summer dish of the central valley.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pastel de choclo?
Pastel de choclo is a main from Chile: sweet corn crust baked over beef pino and chicken in clay dish. Ground corn baked over a meat filling in a clay dish, joining Indigenous maize to Spanish beef and chicken; a summer dish of the central valley.
How long does Pastel de choclo take to make?
Pastel de choclo takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Pastel de choclo?
Yes, within limits. Frozen corn kernels work out of season: thaw, drain well and add less milk. The dish can be made with pino alone, no chicken, and is still recognisably a pastel de choclo.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pastel de choclo?
Basil in the corn is non-negotiable in central Chile and is what makes the topping smell like summer rather than like creamed corn.
