Paleo Picadillo Casserole

September 5, 2011 by Leanne Vogel November 9, 2017

The picadillo casserole is a classic Cuban beef hash recipe. Generally it’s made with bacon, ham, cumin, and oregano, but like all things, I had to switch it up a little.

Ingredients

The Meaty Parts

• 1 lb extra lean ground bison
• 1 lb extra lean ground elk – see note
• 1 cup white mushrooms, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped – yield ~ 1 1/2 cup
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoon chili powder – see note
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon Herbamare or Himalayan rock salt

The Sauce

• 28oz. can diced tomatoes (with juice)
• 3/4 cup kalmata olives – see note
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup whole raisins

The Topping

• 2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into rough cubes – yield ~8 cups
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 3 tablespoon almond flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon Herbamare or Himalayan rock salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.
2. Cube the squash with the directions below. Then coat with melted coconut oil, lay out on the prepared sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until soft.
3. Meanwhile, place bison and olive oil in a large frying pan. Scramble-fry for 10 minutes or so until no longer pink. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
4. Place mushrooms, onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano in the frying pan and cook until the onions have softened.
5. Add tomatoes, olives, apricots, and raisins. Stir and bring to a boil before adding cooked ground meat.
6. Spread mixture into a greased 3 quart (3L) shallow baking dish and set aside.
7. Reset the oven to 375F and mash the squash with a hand masher or blender while mixing in almond flour, egg, oregano, and herbamare.
8. Spread on top of beef mixture. Place a decorative pattern on top with a fork and bake in 375 oven for 40 minutes.

Notes

You can use a combination of other meats like beef or all bison if you’d like.

Don’t be scared of adding this much chili powder. I’m not a fan of spicy food and didn’t find it spicy at all. It just adds the perfect amount of flavor!

Olives are technically not paleo because of high salt content. Feel free to replace with red or yellow bell peppers.

Nutrition Information Per Serving