With very simple ingredients, we can create a wonderful Gluten Free dish that can serve as a starter or as a cold main.

One of my favorites in Peruvian cuisine and a dish that I prepare quite often is the Causa, also called Causa Limeña, related to the Peruvian capital, Lima.

A preparation perfect for the times when you don’t want to cook a long time, you just need a can of tuna, potatoes, and things that you surely already have in the kitchen will shape this delight that has pre-Columbian origins.

Please, this is my version of the Lima Cause and if you have any suggestions to improve this recipe, leave it in the comments!

Most of the time you found Causas with tuna as a filling, but you can also make a different filling with shrimps, crab, chicken or even make your vegetarian version.

 

 

Ingredients

1 Tuna can
5-6 boiled potatoes
1 purple onion
1 Lime
1-4 tsp Yellow Chillie paste, or Ají Amarillo (you can do it yourself or buying the original here)
2-3 tsp Mayonnaise
1 Avocado
2-3 garlic cloves
Black Olives
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Optional, lettuce as a sider

Preparation

The first thing is to boil the potatoes and then prepare a puree. I peel them first and cut them into pieces before boiling, so they cook faster.

In the meantime, cut the onion into small cubes and separate them into two portions.

The garlic is also minced into small cubes and mix together with one half of the already minced onion, put it in a pan with a little olive oil and prepare a sauce.

 

 

Then process everything together with the yellow chili paste to create a paste that we will then mix with the ground potatoes, along with salt, pepper and lime juice to taste.

If you don’t like spicy things, don’t add the yellow chili and if you like you can try to give it the tone that you like the most. I put 4 usually tablespoons of the Ají Amarillo paste, for example.

While we wait for the potatoes to cool down, we prepare the decoration and the filling.

Mix the tuna to which we previously removed the water, with the rest of the onion, a little chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise.

 

 

Cut the avocado into slices, the same for the olives and you could even put hard-boiled egg slices on top.

If you have one, use a cooking ring to make a perfect Causa, (like this one, for example) or you can create one with a cutted plastic bottle. It will be much more beautiful if you have a shape to help you.

 

To build the Causa

Put about 1 cm of the potato mixture on the base.

Then put a layer of tuna, or shrimps or the filling you have chosen.

Here you can create the combination that you like and put the avocado together with the tuna, or create a new layer that separates tuna and avocado or leave it on the top floor as decoration.

 

 

Put another layer of potatoes back and remove the mold.

Here you can put the decoration that you like, including avocado or avocado slices, olives, parsley or a hard-boiled egg.

 

Your Peruvian Causa is ready!