Venezuelan Meal

I cannot believe I was stumped on what I should cook from Venezuela. This was one of the most delicious meals I have cooked. All three dishes were tasty, unique and very good.

For the main dish I decided to make Pasticho Venezolano or Venezuelan lasagna. This lasagna is not vegetarian. I made it vegetarian with the use of crumbled paneer. I retained the rest of the recipe which calls for béchamel sauce layered along with the lasagna noodles, fresh mozzarella cheese and the prepared paneer mixture. Simply delicious!

I paired this with salsa carioca, a simple salad made with tomatoes , onions, avocado and hard boiled eggs. The salad is dressed with a simple oil and vinegar dressing that has hot pepper sauce added to give it a nice kick. For dessert I made Besitos de coco, coconut cookies, that browned beautifully. They were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The entire meal was very satisfying both to cook and to eat.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. The addition of the béchamel sauce to the lasagna was very interesting as was the addition of hot pepper sauce to the salad dressing. My father who is visiting is not particularly fond of tomatoes. Both the main and side dish have tomatoes in them. But the tomatoes do not overpower the dish, merely flavor it and so he was able to enjoy the meal too.

As they say in Venezuela, Buen Provecho!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Pasticho Venezolano 
• Salsa Carioca 

And for dessert

• Besitos de Coco