Chile Relleno wrapped with Prosciutto
Traditional Chile Rellenos are dipped in an egg batter and fried until golden but I avoid the extra messy work of capping Chile Rellenos. However, I had an excess amount of prosciutto having purchased it for another recipe and came up with this idea. Wrap the prosciutto around a roasted and stuffed relleno to create a crusty cap. Yum!
Everything is better with bacon so let’s get started.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Relleno
4- Medium Chile Poblanos, Medium,Roasted, Peeled
1 cup short grain rice
½ cup red onion, finely chopped
1 Large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut ⅛ inch thick slices
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup parsley minced
½ cup Crema Mexicana, plus extra for garnish
Salt and Pepper
4 oz prosciutto, about 16 thin slices
Sauce
3 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
¼ teaspoon ground oregano
Salt
Preparations
Tomato Lime Sauce
Add fresh tomatoes into 6 cups of boiling water and boil them for 2 to 5 minutes until the skins have parted or come loose. Remove the tomatoes and when cool enough to handle, remove the skins. In a blender, liquify the tomatoes, then pour out into a bowl. Add the lime juice, cumin and oregano. If needed, thin the sauce with water to make 1 ½ cups of sauce. Salt to taste.
Roasted Poblanos
Rinse the chiles and place them on a baking tray then set the tray 6 to 10 inches under the broiler flame. Roast for 5-6 minutes until the chile is uniformly blistered, rotate and broil all the remaining sides for 3-4 minutes or until all sides are uniformly blistered. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes then place them in a closed plastic bag so the skin of the chile steams and softens.When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, make a 3 inch slit on the upper part of the pepper; remove the seeds. Poblanos can be prepared ahead several days and stored in the refrigerator.
Rice with Apple
In a 4 quart sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter melted together. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until soft but not browned. Add rice and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the rice has an opaque appearance.
Add chicken stock and apples, cover and continue cooking until the stock is gone and rice is tender,15- 20 minutes. Stir in parsley and Crema Mexicana.
Stuffed Poblanos
Roasted peppers are sensitive to tearing; carefully pack each pepper tightly with rice through the 3 inch slit.
Line the bottom of a baking tray or roasting pan with a sheet of aluminum foil. Place the stuffed peppers on the foil and wrap each with 4 overlapping sheets of prosciutto. Thin slices of prosciutto will crisp-up quickly under a hot broiler flame so place your tray about 8 inches from the broiler flame for 3-4 minutes.
Plating
Place a ½ cup of tomato-lime sauce in a shallow and wide bowl like a pasta bowl. Lay the pepper on the sauce, lightly sprinkle finely minced parley and drizzle Crema Mexicana over each pepper.
Notes
Of all my years working with poblanos, my guess is that 10% of the time you will find a real hot batch. What to do? Prepare your chile a day earlier to give you time to find another food store to replace a hot batch. The fear of getting a hot chile should not prevent you from using this essential ingredient.
Buen Provecho
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