Pork Picadillo

[beemaster]

Pork Picadillo
Picadillo de Cerdo

You may have heard of picadillo, ground beef or pork cooked with seasonings (think Latin Sloppy Joes.) Picar means to cut, picadillo means to chop fine. Whether it's pork, beef or a mix of the two, it's usually a filling for something like these alcapurrias or empanadas or stuffed vegetables. The filling is left pretty simple so the saltiness of the olives and the flavor of the pork come through.
Makes about 2 ½ cups, enough to fill about 32 fritters

2 tablespoons Achiote Oil (see "Staples") ¼ cup Sofrito (see "Staples") ¼ cup alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives 1 pound ground pork 1 tablespoon tomato paste Fine sea or kosher salt Freshly ground pepper
Make a beef picadillo by substituting an equal amount of beef for the pork. Everything else stays the same. Although this is usually a filling, it is sometimes eaten on its own with white rice. 

1. Heat the achiote oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sofrito and alcaparrado and cook until the liquid is evaporated and the sofrito starts to sizzle, about 5 minutes.


2. Add the pork and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, until the pork is cooked through. The pork will give off a lot of liquid. Keep cooking, stirring once in a while, until the liquid is evaporated. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a minute or two. Taste and add salt and pepper if you like. Cool before using. The pork filling can be made up to 2 days in advance