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Colombia, Americas · Ajiaco (Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup)

Ajiaco Loaded Smashed Potatoes

Crispy smashed baby yellow potatoes piled with creamy guascas chicken, melted cheese, charred corn, capers and avocado: ajiaco as a sharing snack.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time50 min
DifficultyMedium

Method

  1. Put the potatoes, chicken breast and peeled garlic in a 20 cm pot, add water to cover by 2 cm and part of the salt. Bring to the boil on high heat, then lower to medium heat and simmer for , until a knife slides easily into the potatoes and the chicken shows no pink when cut. Preheat the oven to 220 °C now.

    Add in this stepSmall yellow potatoes (papas criollas or baby potatoes) 440 gChicken breast 200 gGarlic cloves 2Salt 0.9 tsp

    high heat→medium heat

  2. Lift out the chicken and shred it finely with forks; mash the cooked garlic. Mix them with part of the sour cream, the guascas, the lime juice, the remaining salt and the pepper to make a creamy chicken topping.

    Add in this stepSour cream 60 gGuascas (dried herb) 2 tspLime ½Salt 0.6 tspGround black pepper 1 pinch

  3. Drain the potatoes and let them steam dry for about 2 minutes. Spread them out on an oiled baking tray, using part of the oil, and press each one with the base of a glass to about 1.5 cm thick. Drizzle with the rest of the oil and roast in the oven at 220 °C (oven) for , until the edges are brown and crisp.

    Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp

    oven

  4. Meanwhile, heat a dry 20 cm pan on medium-high heat, add the corn and cook for , until it has charred spots here and there.

    Add in this stepSweetcorn kernels 100 g

    medium-high heat

  5. Top each potato with the chicken mixture, sprinkle with mozzarella and return to the oven (oven) for to melt the cheese.

    Add in this stepMozzarella, grated 60 g

    oven

  6. Scatter over the charred corn, capers and diced avocado, add small dollops of the remaining sour cream and the cilantro, and serve hot.

    Add in this stepCapers 2 tspAvocado ½Sour cream 40 gCilantro (coriander) 3

Cook's tip

Dry the potatoes well so they crisp in the oven. Undercooked potatoes crack instead of smashing, so boil them until fully tender. No guascas? Mix chopped cilantro and parsley into the chicken instead.

Cooking it at camp

Boil the potatoes and chicken at home and bring them chilled. At the campsite, smash the potatoes in an oiled cast-iron pan, fry both sides on medium until crisp, add the toppings and cover with a lid to melt the cheese.