I love a good steamy bowl of tamal en cazuela. From time to time I stop at the Cuban gas station for some but this week I have resorted to making a huge pot of my own for dinner for my family. It is ridiculously easy to make and I found this recipe in my Columbia Restaurant Cookbook and it did not disappoint. One of my son called it, Cuban grits and he’s not entirely wrong. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!
Tamal en Cazuela
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. pork loin, cut in cubes
- 1 cup Mojo marinade
- 2 cups finely ground corn meal
- 2 – 15 oz. cans sweet corn
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 green peppers, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 cup cooking wine, Pinot Grigio
- 1 – 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups water
Prepare
- First, in a large mixing bowl, marinate pork in mojo for at least two hours.
- In a food process, process the corn meal, sweet corn, salt, cumin, and pepper until you get a thick consistency and set aside.
- Heat ¼ cup oil in large pot to medium-high heat. Brown pork cubes, remove from pan, and drain. Set aside.
- In the same pot, sauté onions, green peppers, and minced garlic in ½ cup oil until limp.
- Next, add tomato sauce, bay leaves, and pork. Cover and cook until pork is tender; add some of the water if needed.
- Finally, add the corn, stir, and cook for 45 minutes over low heat, stirring often so corn will not stick to bottom of pan. Serves 8-10 people.
