Pastelon (Sweet Plaintain Lasagna):
Pastelon de platano maduro is a layered dish, like an Italian lasagna or a Greek moussaka, consisting of basic Latin Caribbean foods such as yellow plantains (maduros), garlic, onions, cheese, butter and ground/minced meat. Some like to add other ingredients to their pastelon recipe, such as olives, nutmeg and raisins, to intensify the flavors. In the Dominican Republic this dish is closely related to a casserole. Sweet plantains are usually sliced, fried and either layered or mashed. Ground meat is layered with beaten eggs and sometimes cheddar cheese is added. The dish is then baked. I prefer to use mozzarella cheese and not add any eggs to my recipe, but feel free to do so. To make the dish a little healthier, I like to boil and mash the plantains instead of frying them, but you can slice and fry them if you prefer. I also use ground turkey instead of ground beef sometimes. Either way you prefer, this dish is absolutely delicious. If you would like to try something other than the typical lasagna for a family meal, give this recipe a try, you will love it! Now, let's cook!
Course: Main
Cuisine: Caribbean/Puerto Rican/Dominican
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
For Meat Filling (Cooking instructions below):
Instructions:
To cook meat:
To Layer Pastelon:
Pastelon de platano maduro is a layered dish, like an Italian lasagna or a Greek moussaka, consisting of basic Latin Caribbean foods such as yellow plantains (maduros), garlic, onions, cheese, butter and ground/minced meat. Some like to add other ingredients to their pastelon recipe, such as olives, nutmeg and raisins, to intensify the flavors. In the Dominican Republic this dish is closely related to a casserole. Sweet plantains are usually sliced, fried and either layered or mashed. Ground meat is layered with beaten eggs and sometimes cheddar cheese is added. The dish is then baked. I prefer to use mozzarella cheese and not add any eggs to my recipe, but feel free to do so. To make the dish a little healthier, I like to boil and mash the plantains instead of frying them, but you can slice and fry them if you prefer. I also use ground turkey instead of ground beef sometimes. Either way you prefer, this dish is absolutely delicious. If you would like to try something other than the typical lasagna for a family meal, give this recipe a try, you will love it! Now, let's cook!
Course: Main
Cuisine: Caribbean/Puerto Rican/Dominican
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 plantains (very ripe - almost black)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter (more or less to taste)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese OR mozzarella cheese
- cooking spray
For Meat Filling (Cooking instructions below):
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced (red or white)
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
- 1 lb ground beef or turkey
- 1 cup tomato sauce (8 oz. can)
- 1 seeded green bell pepper, diced
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/2 tsp pepper (more or less to taste)
- 1 tsp chopped cilantro (or parsley)
- 1 pack Sazon Goya
- 1-2 tablespoons sofrito
- green olives with capers, diced
Instructions:
To cook meat:
- In a cooking pan, heat oil over medium-low heat.
- Stir in onions and cook until it turns translucent. Add garlic and cook, mixing continuously.
- Add ground meat and cook until it browns.
- Pour in tomato sauce, add bell pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir, then cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Uncover, taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Remove from the heat.
To Layer Pastelon:
- Generously spray a 9x13 inch baking pan and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot with water and add 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil.
- Peel the plantains, cut them in half, then slice them lengthwise. Add them to the boiling water. Once the plantains are very tender, remove them from the heat.
- Take the plantains out of the water, place them in a bowl and mash them. Add the butter and keep mashing until the mixtures is very smooth. (Sometimes I add 1-2 tablespoons of the water I boiled plantains in when I mash them).
- Put half of the plantains mixture in the baking pan and spread out evenly with a spatula.
- Cover the plantain mixture with half of the shredded cheese.
- Cover the cheese with the ground meat.
- Cover the meat with the remaining plantain mixture and spread out evenly with a spatula.
- Cover the plantain with the rest of the shredded cheese and place in the oven.
- Bake, uncovered, until the top is golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and let cool for at least five minutes before serving. Enjoy!