PUERTO RICAN PASTELON

By Fusingweb3 The Freakin Rican Recipes September 30, 2022

Ingredients

Use a 4×8” or 4×10” foil pan for this dish.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put oil in a large frying pan. Turn on the stove to medium flame.
While oil is heating up, prepare the plantains to be fried: Cut both ends off the plantain, then cut down along the seam and peel off the peel from the plantain.
Lay the plantain on the cutting board, then slice it horizontally (long way, like a lasagna noodle) about ¼ of the way from the top, not too thick.
Slice another piece this way.
Now flip the plantain over and continue to slice it ¼ way from the top until you have about 4 or 5 slices of plantain “long noodles”.
Do this with all 4 plantains.
When oil is hot enough, place plantain slices into the hot oil. Keep the flame on medium.
When they turn a golden brown, flip them over and continue to fry until golden brown.
When they are done, turn the flame down to low. You want to keep the oil hot without burning it.
Remove plantains onto a plate covered with a paper towel. Do this with all the plantain slices.
When putting your next batch of plantains in the pan to fry, turn the flame back up to medium.
When all your plantain slices have been fried and are draining on the plate, take the 2 eggs and beat them very well.

Making the Base Layer set of the Pastelon:

Place plantain slices close together, with no gaps, into bottom of the foil pan. Use thin plantain slices to fill in any gaps.
Brush the egg (or use your fingers) onto the plantain slices. The egg is used to bind them together while it cooks in the oven.
Then spread the next layer, the ground beef (Picadillo), on top and cover it completely.
Then spread a layer of the shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese over the meat, leaving no gaps.

The Second Layer Set:

Take more plantain slices and layer them over the cheese. It’s ok to have little gaps in between the plantains because you already have a good foundation layer.
Brush the egg on top of plantains to bind it together as it cooks in the oven.
Add the ground beef layer, spreading it out to cover the plantains.
Add the mozzarella cheese to cover the meat.

The Last Layer Set:

Take more plantain slices and layer them over the cheese.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 30-45 minutes.
When it is done, take a spatula, cut into it for a piece for a serving. Then, with the spatula, gently ease the Pastelon from the sides of the pan. You can then lift out a piece, and do that for the rest of the serving pieces.

DERICK LOPEZ

Executive Chef