Sephardic Beef, Potato and Egg Casserole - meat

This is a family recipe from Toto Mechali, an owner of a gourmet grocery store in the Baltimore area. Mechali�s family can trace its roots to Spain to a time before Ferdinand and Isabella�s 1492 edict of expulsion that sent the country�s Jews fleeing to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere in the Middle East and Europe.

Serves 6 as a main course, more as a side dish

12 medium potatoes
1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste, divided
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon saffron, or turmeric
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
6 eggs, hard-boiled, then peeled and sliced

Boil potatoes with skins until cooked; set aside.

Saute meat in pan and add 1 teaspoon salt and garlic. Peel potatoes and mash in bowl, adding saffron, salt, pepper and oil.

In greased 9-inch-by-11-inch pan with sides, create layers approximately 1/4 inch thick: First, pat down a layer of mashed potato, cover with ground meat, add slices of eggs, create another layer of mashed potato on top and repeat from the beginning, creating 2 to 3 layers of each. The top layer should be potato.

Put pan into oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then broil for 5 minutes to make the top potato layer crisp.

Source: "Mediterranean Meal: Passover foods are rooted in Judaic history" Gerri Kobren