Arepa Pie: A Meal for Veggies and Meat lovers

Earlier this month, I invited the PA’s and Interns who helped us in the production office during the recent film shoot I worked on over for a gathering. They helped keep us sane during production, and they deserved a big thank you, so I made them dinner.

I had two constraints. First, I had plans earlier that day, so I didn’t have a huge amount of time to make food to feed a group. And second, I needed to make something that would translate easily into a vegetarian version. G came up with the idea that I should make a casserole of some kind. I thought of an issue of Saveur from a while back that celebrated casseroles. Among them was a Tamale Pie I made once and I recalled that it had turned out well. It struck me that it would be easy to make a veggie version along side the meat version by substituting in vegetarian taco crumbles.

Now, in addition to making a veggie version, I planned on one other big change. I don’t typically have yellow cornmeal around, but my mom regularly sends me packages of Harina PAN -- a kind of white corn meal that Venezuelans and Colombians use to make arepas. (It can be found in a lot of Hispanic food markets, but it’s harder to come by on the West Coast). For the unfamiliar, an arepa is cornmeal patty that is grilled, fried, or baked and eaten like bread at pretty much any meal of the day. I have not been making arepas with enough frequency to keep up with the shipments of Harina PAN, so I had this in abundance. Why not use that? I made that substitution the first time and it had come out well.

In some ways, using the Harina PAN actually made things easier because it requires no additional cooking. To make the dough – or masa-- all you have to do is add 1 ¼ cup of water per 1 cup of flour and a little salt. You let it sit for a few minutes and then knead the dough until blended. I started with 2 ¼ cups to match the recipe; however, I then made another batch to make sure there was enough for the veggie version. I spread out a layers of masa into two greased baking dishes – one lasagna dish and one that was ½ the size. I put the rest of the masa to the side to be used later for the top layers.

I made the filling pretty much as indicated by the instructions. However, since I wanted to make regular version and an additional veggie version, I had to find a way to streamline the process a bit. I accomplished this by cooking all of the veggies together. But I didn’t want to loose the bacon flavor from the drippings, so l made bacon in a pan in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes in order to keep the drippings temporarily separate. I cooked up 1 and ½ the called for quantities of veggies.

When the vegetables were cooked, I separated 1/3 of the amount into a separate cast iron skillet. To the larger batch I added the ground beef. At this point I added the bacon drippings, along with the bacon bits – what’s the point of cooking bacon and then not using it?

To the smaller batch I added one package (I think it was 12 oz) of vegetarian crumbles. I cooked each batch simultaneously, stirring occasionally.

Time to spice. Of course I added more garlic than called for, I also sprinkled in a little garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika to each. I also added in some chipotle sauce. (When you purchase chipotle peppers in a can, they come packed in a thick sauce. I never throw this away. I freeze any leftovers as this makes a great flavoring. Just a little goes a long way). I have to say, each pan of filling was delicious! Either would be a great filling for any number of things.

Meat

Veggie

When both pans of filling were ready, I transferred the beef filling into the larger baking dish with the masa, and the vegetarian batch into the smaller baking dish. I then carefully spread out the remaining masa on top of each baking dish to cover the filling.

And now, to oven!

I left them into the oven a longer than suggested as I was trying to get the top to crisp up. However, here is where I think the Harina PAN masa differs from the yellow tamale cornmeal; I don’t think it crisps up quite the same way in the oven. Because I left it a little longer than I should have, the texture got a little bit chewy. Had I left it a little less time, I think the texture would have been softer, but a little more pleasant. The other tweaks I’d make in the future, would be to alter the ratio of filling to masa; I’d make the arepa/tamale layers a little thinner and make a little more ground beef mixture.

Nonetheless, it was pretty tasty. I served sour cream, cheese, and hot sauces on the side for everyone to add to their taste. It could be easily be a adapted for many types of crowds. I think it be great for a family – toning down the spicy factor of course. I’m pretty sure I will return to this one in the future, and will definitely report back on further attempts.