Peruvian Causa

Peruvian Causa is so named because when Peru was at war -- fighting for independence from Spain -- women would make this layered potato dish, and sell it in the streets to raise money for 'the cause' and support their husbands/soldiers. The recipe below (from allrecipes.com) uses canned tuna. That may not be the most traditional form of fish/seafood, but it's easy to get and worked for our purposes in Culinary Arts.

The recipe indicates a layer of hard boiled egg slices on 'top' before inverting the causa, so they end up on the bottom. We liked it better when the egg slices -- and a sprinkling of cilantro, common in other causa recipes -- were added after the causa was inverted so that they were visible on top.

INGREDIENTS:

8 russet potatoes, peeled 1/2 cup vegetable oil, or as needed 2 tablespoons minced aji amarillo salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 (5 ounce) cans tuna, drained

1 small red onion, diced small 1/2 cup mayonnaise, divided 2 avocados, cut into thin strips 3 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
2.	Mash potatoes with a ricer or hand mixer until smooth. Gradually stir in oil until potatoes come together; add aji amarillo, salt, and pepper. Cool potato mixture in the refrigerator, about 20 minutes.
3.	Stir tuna, onion, and 1/4 cup mayonnaise together in a bowl.
4.	Line a casserole dish with plastic wrap. Spread 1/2 the potato mixture on the bottom of the dish. Spread 2 tablespoons mayonnaise over the potatoes, spread the tuna mixture over the mayonnaise, and place the avocado slices in a single layer on top of the tuna mixture. Spread the remaining 1/2 of potato mixture over the avocados, and top with remaining 2 tablespoons mayonnaise. Place sliced eggs over the top. Cover casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
5.	Invert casserole dish onto a serving dish or baking sheet to remove potato casserole from dish. Remove plastic wrap and cut casserole into squares.