Pastel de Choclo

Ingredients

• For the pino: 600g beef chuck or skirt, finely diced
• 800g white onions, finely diced
• 3 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp merken or smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 200ml beef stock
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 2 chicken thighs, bone in
• 12 black olives
• 50g raisins
• 3 eggs, hard-boiled
• For the corn topping: 1.5kg fresh sweetcorn kernels, from about 10 ears
• 1 large handful fresh basil leaves
• 300ml whole milk
• 3 tbsp lard or butter
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp caster sugar, for the top

Before you cook

• Strip the kernels from the corn with a knife, standing each ear upright in a wide bowl
• Dice the onions as small as you can manage
• Dice the beef by hand into 5mm pieces
• Soak the raisins in warm water for 10 minutes and drain them
• Peel and halve the hard-boiled eggs

Steps

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of lard in a large pan and cook the diced onion with 2 teaspoons of salt for 25 minutes, until fully soft and sweet.
2. Raise the heat, add the beef and brown it for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the paprika, cumin and merken and toast them for 3 minutes.
4. Scatter over the flour, stir for 2 minutes, then pour in the stock.
5. Simmer the pino for 20 minutes, until thick and shiny, then season it firmly and set it aside to cool.
6. Simmer the chicken thighs in salted water for 25 minutes, then lift them out and pull the meat off the bone in large pieces.
7. Put the corn kernels and basil leaves in a food processor and pulse to a coarse, still-textured paste.
8. Melt the 3 tablespoons of lard for the topping in a wide heavy pan over medium heat.
9. Add the corn paste, the milk and 1 teaspoon of salt and stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
10. Cook the corn for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring the whole time so it does not catch, until it thickens to the consistency of loose polenta and no longer tastes raw.
11. Take the corn off the heat and taste it, adding salt until it is properly seasoned.
12. Heat the oven to 200C fan.
13. Spread the cooled pino across the base of a large earthenware dish or six individual ones.
14. Lay the chicken pieces, olives, raisins and halved eggs over the pino.
15. Spoon the hot corn mixture over the top and level it with a spatula, sealing it right to the edges.
16. Bake the pastel for 35 minutes, until the corn is set and the edges are bubbling.
17. Sprinkle the caster sugar evenly over the surface.
18. Slide the dish under a hot grill for 4 to 6 minutes, watching it closely, until the sugar caramelises into dark freckled patches.
19. Rest the pastel for 10 minutes before serving, and eat it with a simple tomato and onion salad.