This is my niece-in-law V.'s mother's recipe, pronounced 'cow-sa'. (V. says it's a secret family recipe: I won't tell anyone if you won't!) Use a ricer to mash the potatoes: it'll give the best smooth consistency.
Aji amarillo is a ground-up yellow Peruvian pepper paste --- Rossana once told me she thinks most American food is pretty bland, so keep that in mind when you add those 4 tablespoons of the aji amarillo!
2 pounds yellow potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup lime juice (make sure to use limes that don't smell or taste too tart or sour, this can really impact the dish)
4 tablespoons aji amarillo
1/2 pound cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 ripe avocado
2 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 cup mixed frozen mixed peas, carrots and greenbeans, cooked
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
Boil potatoes until tender. Peel while still warm, then use a ricer to mash the potatoes. Once riced and cooled to room temperature, add salt, vegetable oil, lime juice and aji. Mix thoroughly, taste for salt and aji, and set aside.
Boil shrimp in water with a pinch of salt for about three minutes. Peel shrimp and cut in half or thirds, depending on size, but reserving a few whole shrimp for the top of the causa. Mix together the rest of the shrimp, half the mixed vegetables and all the mayonnaise.
Spread half of the potato mixture in an 8x8 or 9x9 dish, and smooth the surface flat with a spatula. Cover that with the shrimp mixture, and smooth flat. Slice the hard-boiled eggs and avocado thinly and arrange half of each evenly on top of the shrimp. Cover with the rest of the potato mixture and smooth that flat.
Decorate the top with the remaining shrimp, egg slices, avocado, mixed vegetables and olives.
Refrigerate covered with plastic wrap, preferably overnight: it will really bring the flavors together. Serve cold.
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