VENISON MEXICAN CHORIZO & POTATO FILO PIE
Ground venison chorizo and potatoes are tucked into crisp baked filo with a little queso fresco in the middle. It is a good comfort-food dinner when you want the flavor of chorizo and potatoes in something a little different from tacos or tostadas.
Ingredients
For the Chorizo
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless venison, fat and silverskin removed, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 8 ounces pork fat, (backfat, fatty bacon or scraps from other cuts)
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder, store bought or homemade
- 2 bay leaves, ground in a spice grinder or coffee grinder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, Mexican canela if you can find it
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar, best quality you can find
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- kosher salt, start with 1 teaspoon and then season to taste at the end
Remaining Ingredients
- 3-4 medium sized red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 dice (about 2 cups)
- salt for boiling the potatoes
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup queso fresco, you can use others cheeses
- 7 sheets filo dough
- melted butter, about 1 tablespoon
Instructions
Make the Sausage
- Combine all of the ingredients except the water and vinegar in a large bowl. Toss to ensure the meat is coated with the seasonings. Chill the mixture until you're ready to grind. Grind the mixture through a small die. Add the water and vinegar to the mixture. Mix them thoroughly with a spoon or with a stand mixer and paddle attachment. You want the mixture to be sticky. Fry a small piece to check for seasoning and add salt to taste. Refrigerate until needed.
Make the filling.
- (1) Bring a pot of salted water a boil. Add the cubed potatoes and simmer them until they are fork tender (8-10 minutes roughly). Drain the potatoes and set aside. (2) Measure out 1 1/2 cups if the chorizo that you made. Heat a large non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the chorizo and onion; cook for about 10 minutes while stirring periodically to ensure the sausage breaks apart. If there is excess fat in the pan from the rendered sausage, drain all but about 1 tablespoon. (3) Add the potatoes to the pan and cook while stirring periodically until the potatoes start to brown (about 8 minutes). With the back of your spatula or spoon smash the potatoes a little and stir until the mixture holds together a little. It should resemble canned corned beef hash. Set to the side to cool.
Assemble the filo pie.
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F. (1) Oil an 8 inch deep round baking dish. Lay 5 sheets of filo into the dish in opposite directions ensuring you have filo overhanging the edges. (2) Place the chorizo potato filling into the dish on top of the filo. Spread the mixture evenly and sprinkle with crumbled queso fresco. (3) Place two more filo sheets on top of the mixture. Fold the bottom layers that are overhanging over top of the dish/mixture. Scrunch them up for a cool decorative look or simple lay flat.
Bake the chorizo pie
- Brush the melted butter on top of the filo pie. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn on the top
NOTES
- Make the sausage sticky. After grinding, mix in the vinegar and water until the chorizo feels tacky and holds together well, then fry a small piece and adjust the salt before using it.
- Boil the potatoes first. Cook them in salted water until fork-tender, then drain them well before adding them to the pan with the chorizo.
- Brown the filling fully. Cook the chorizo and onion first, then add the potatoes and keep cooking until the potatoes start to brown. Smash them a little so the filling holds together more like hash.
- Cool the filling before layering. Let the chorizo-potato mixture cool a bit so the filo stays easier to handle and does not soften too fast.
- Layer the filo with overhang. Put 5 sheets in the dish in different directions so that they hang over the edge enough to fold back across the top later.
- Add cheese in the middle. Spread the filling evenly, scatter the queso fresco over it, then add the last 2 filo sheets on top, then fold the overhanging layers over.
- Brush and watch the top. Brush the filo with melted butter and bake at 400 F until golden and crisp, about 20 to 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it near the end so the top does not burn.
- Use the extra chorizo later. The full chorizo batch makes about 2 1/2 pounds, but this pie only uses 1 1/2 cups. The rest keeps about 5 days in the refrigerator or can be frozen.
Nutrition
Calories: 2357kcal | Carbohydrates: 291g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 93g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 43g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 204mg | Sodium: 2601mg | Potassium: 1753mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 691IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 24mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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