Cuban Tamale Pie Recipes

OLD-SCHOOL TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef, onion, and bell pepper in the hot skillet until beef is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
• Stir tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, olives, chili powder, garlic, cumin, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper into the skillet. Bring to a low boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup Cheddar cheese and continue to simmer until melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.
• Heat milk, butter, sugar, and salt for topping in a large saucepan over medium heat until butter has melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in cornmeal a little at a time, stirring vigorously with each addition, until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Drizzle in beaten eggs slowly, stirring vigorously until combined. Pour mixture over filling in the prepared dish, smoothing evenly over the surface.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow pie to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

CUBAN TAMALES

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook and stir pork in hot oil until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour 1/2 cup white wine into saucepan and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
• Stir 2 cups water, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 beef bouillon cube, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and black pepper to pork mixture. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover the saucepan with a lid, and simmer until pork is very tender, 1 to 2 hours. Transfer pork to a bowl and reserve cooking liquid.
• Heat remaining olive oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chorizo and cooked pork in hot oil until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Stir onion, green pepper, and remaining minced garlic into chorizo mixture; saute until vegetables soften and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add remaining white wine, olives, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and remaining bouillon cube; cook, stirring frequently, until flavors combine, about 5 minutes more.
• Pulse corn and 1 1/2 cups reserved pork broth together in a blender or food processor until mixture has a thick and chunky consistency. Stir corn mixture into pork-chorizo mixture.
• Reduce heat to medium and stir masa harina, sugar, vinegar, and salt into pork mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture has a hearty cornmeal porridge-consistency. Season with salt and remove from heat.
• Make a pocket out of one corn husk and fill 3/4 full with pork mixture, leaving a top flap. Wrap another husk around the filled pocket. Fold top flap over the pocket. Tie twine length- and width-wise around the tamale several times so that packet is secure, but has room for filling to expand during cooking. Repeat with remaining husks and filling.
• Fill a pot with 2-inches of water; bring to a simmer. Place tamales upright in simmering water, cover the pot, and cook, adding water as necessary, until filling is hot and set, about 40 minutes. Cool tamales until completely set, at least 3 hours.

TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Heat the oil in a 12-inch deep skillet over medium heat (cast iron, stainless steel, or oven-safe nonstick). Once hot, add the ground turkey and onion. Sauté, breaking up the turkey, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the turkey is mostly cooked and the onion is turning translucent.
• Add the bell pepper and garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 more minutes.
• Add the chili powder, cumin, and salt and stir to completely combine.
• Add the black beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chiles, and corn. Stir and cook just until bubbly.
• Taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat and set aside while you make the topping.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the masa harina, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine.
• Add the chicken broth and use an electric mixer to beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy. Alternatively, beat with a wooden spoon.
• Add the melted butter and egg and beat for 2 more minutes until well combined. The mixture should resemble creamy mashed potatoes-if it is too stiff, add another splash or two of broth. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and mix just to combine.
• Spread the cooked filling out in the skillet into an even layer. Top with 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
• Top with large dollops of the masa topping, then use a rubber spatula to gently spread into an even layer, spreading almost to the edge.
• Bake, uncovered, for about 30 to 45 minutes, or until the filling is very bubbly, the topping is pale golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the masa comes out clean. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

CUBAN TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350. In a large skillet, brown the beef over medium heat. Add the onion, raisins, roasted peppers, capers, brown sugar, beef stock, salt, chili powder and pepper. Cover and let simmer 15 minutes, then uncover and simmer for 5 more minutes. Let cool, then place the filling in a lightly greased dish. In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Sitr in the egg, green chiles, milk and oil. Evently spread the cornmeal topping over the meat mixture. Bake 25 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned. Serve hot.

TAMPA CUBAN HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from the can and roll out into a 9x16-inch rectangle. Cut into 4 equal rectangles.
• Place 1 rectangle horizontally on a work surface. Brush mustard over the surface, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Arrange ham, pork, salami, Swiss cheese, and 2 pickle chips, in that order, on the left side of the rectangle. Leave the border and right side of the dough exposed.
• Whisk egg and milk together to make an egg wash. Brush around the border. Fold the right side over the filling and press to seal; crimp the edges with a fork. Cut a few small slits in the top of the hand pie to vent. Brush some egg wash over the top.
• Repeat with remaining dough, mustard, filling, and egg wash. Arrange hand pies on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crisp and golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. Cover with foil if starting to brown too quickly. Remove pies to a rack to cool for 5 minutes.

MEATLESS TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Roast poblano chilies over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose chilies in paper bag. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed and coarsely chop chilies.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn kernels and cook until beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add jalapeño chilies, garlic, cumin and oregano; sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in roasted poblano chilies, canned tomatoes, 1/2 cup reserved juice from canned tomatoes, green onions and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook squash in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Mix cheeses in medium bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Combine 5 cups water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil. Combine cornmeal and remaining 2 cups water in medium bowl. Gradually whisk cornmeal mixture into boiling salted water. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until cornmeal is very tender and mixture is thick, stirring often, about 14 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in yogurt.
• Spread 2/3 of cornmeal over bottom of prepared dish (cover remaining cornmeal to keep warm). Arrange squash over cornmeal in dish. Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 2 cups cheese over squash. Spoon corn kernel mixture evenly over cheese, spreading with spatula. Spread remaining cornmeal evenly over corn kernel mixture. Arrange tomato slices atop cornmeal, pressing gently. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup juice from canned tomatoes over. Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over casserole.
• Bake casserole uncovered until heated through and top is golden, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.)
• Let casserole stand 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve.

TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Marinate and cook pork:
• Combine juice, garlic, cumin, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, then whisk in oil. Add pork and toss to coat, then marinate, covered and chilled, turning occasionally, 3 hours.
• Drain pork, reserving marinade, then put pork in pressure cooker and add enough water to cover. Seal pressure cooker with lid and cook at high pressure, according to manufacturer's instructions, 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure fall naturally.
• Make filling:
• When pork is cool enough to handle, drain, discarding liquid, and coarsely shred. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then lightly brown pork, stirring, until crisp.
• Transfer pork to a bowl with a slotted spoon, then add chorizo and ham to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. (If chorizo is very lean, add 1 tablespoon oil.) Add onions and bell peppers and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• Return pork to skillet, then add tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, Sherry, and reserved marinade. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm, covered. Prepare crust and bake pie: Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Oil a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish.
• Bring broth and 1 cup hot water to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and cover.
• Combine baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk in oil until smooth, then stir in cornmeal. Stir in hot broth and let stand, uncovered, 10 minutes.
• Stir eggs into cornmeal mixture. Set aside 1 1/2 cups batter (for top crust).
• Stir corn kernels into remaining batter (for bottom crust) and spread over bottom and up sides of baking dish. Spoon filling into crust and sprinkle with cheese.
• Stir remaining 1/4 cup hot water into reserved batter and spread over top. Bake until top is browned, about 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

EASY TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter an 8-inch baking or casserole dish.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef and onion in the hot skillet until beef is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in corn, tomatoes, oil, chili powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil; remove from heat.
• Combine milk, cornmeal, and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in meat mixture. Mix in olives. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden and set, 50 to 60 minutes; mixture should not be mushy.