Plantain Lasagna (Pastelon)

Bring a taste of Puerto Rico to your dining table with this delicious Pastelon dish

Course Dinner

Cuisine Puerto Rican

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings -6 servings

Calories 787kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

4 large plantains ripen
1 lb of ground beef
2 teaspoon of adobo seasoning heaping
1 tablespoon of sazon heaping (see post for recipe)
1 onion minced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 green bell pepper minced
¼ cup of fresh cilantro coriander, chopped
⅓ cup of olives/capers
1 cup of tomato sauce
2 cups of dairy free cheese
3 large eggs beaten
Coconut oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven 356f/180C/gas mark 4.
Grease or lightly spray a casserole dish and set aside
In a large bowl, add the ground beef and season with the sazon and adobo and set aside.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat then proceed to saute the onion, garlic, and minced bell pepper - this is the sofrito!! along with the cilantro until soft and translucent.
Once softened add the ground beef, stir and sear the meat. This should take a few minutes to brown, just keep folding and stirring the meat.
Add the tomato and olives/capers, stir then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Prepare the plantain by cutting the ends of each one, then scoring lengthways across each plantain (becareful, not to slice too deep, just deep each to remove the skin). Take off the skin and cut the plantain in lengthways strips about 1" for each one. You should get 4 slices per plantain.
Melt some coconut oil on medium heat, just enough to lightly fry the plantain strips. Work in batches of needed and fry both sides until golden brown.
Blot off any excess oil before covering the bottom of the roasting dish with strips of plantain. Grab the egg mixture and brush it over the first layer.
Then spoon the ground beef about 1'' thickness and spread evenly across and then sprinkle some of the cheese onto
Repeat this step of layer the plantain, brush the on egg wash, spooning and spreading out beef and sprinkling the cheese again until you have 2-3 layers.
The final layer should be a layer of plantain then brushing the remaining part of egg wash before topping off with the cheese.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown
Serve accordingly.

Notes

Switch up the ground meat. If you don't want to use ground beef, feel free to use turkey if you wish. This won't impact too much on the overall result.
For best results use a lean meat like 5% or 7% ground beef. It's less fat and not excessive.
Be generous with the seasoning. Latinos are very particular with using their own seasoning - sazon and adobo which is what is featured in this recipe. I used my homemade version as listed. A heaping tablespoon of sazon against 2 heaping teaspoons of adobo so both spice blends compliment each other.
Dry rub application. There is no need to leave the dry rub to infuse overnight, the ground beef can be seasoned and used immediately.
Make sure to sear the beef. The beef should take a few minutes to brown, just keep stirring and rotating the pan so it cooks evenly.
The amount of plantain needed. I used a total of 4 large plantains with the ends being snipped off then score the plantain length ways to remove the skin. Slice the plantain length ways and each slice should be 1" in thickness.
Building the lasagna. start by arranging the plantain at the bottom of the dish, lay them side by side in unison. It's okay if they are uneven as the beef and cheese will cover it.
Size of the roasting dish. For best results use a rectangular dish roughly 19 x 12 cm dimensions.

Nutrition