Pastelón (Puerto Rican Sweet Plantain and Picadillo Casserole)
By David PazmiñoPublished on August 2, 2021
Time
1½ hours
Yield
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
If culantro is unavailable, increase the cilantro to 1 cup. You can substitute one small green bell pepper for the Cubanelle, if desired. Buy the largest plantains you can find; they should be almost completely black and yield to firm pressure, like a ripe avocado. The seasoning mix sazón can be found in the international section of your supermarket; we like versions that include cilantro and achiote for this dish, but any will work. Alcaparrado, a mixture of pitted manzanilla olives, capers, and pimento strips, can be found there too. If you can’t find it, substitute pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives. Serve the pastelón with rice and beans.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Pulse ¾ cup cilantro leaves and stems; 1 seeded and coarsely chopped small Cubanelle pepper; ½ onion, quartered; ¼ cup coarsely chopped culantro; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; and 3 peeled garlic cloves in food processor until coarsely chopped, 12 to 14 pulses.
- Line rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Peel 3–3½ pounds very ripe plantains. Halve 1 plantain crosswise; cut each half lengthwise into thirds. Repeat with remaining plantains.
- Heat ¾ cup vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Carefully lay one-third of plantain pieces in skillet and fry until deep golden brown on 1 side, 3 to 4 minutes. Using 2 spatulas, flip and fry on second side until deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer plantains to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining plantains in 2 batches. Discard excess oil, leaving any browned bits in skillet. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon table salt over plantains.
- Add 1 pound ground beef to now-empty skillet and cook over medium-high heat, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until beef is no longer pink and begins to brown. Sprinkle 2½ teaspoons sazón over meat and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Drizzle 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar over meat and stir to combine. Transfer meat to bowl.
- Transfer cilantro mixture to now-empty skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until onion softens, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 can tomato sauce and continue to cook until mixture thickens and fond begins to form on edges and bottom of skillet, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Stir in beef and 2 tablespoons pitted alcaparrado and continue to cook until sauce is thickened and coats meat, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Arrange half of plantain pieces in lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking dish (plantains will not cover bottom of dish completely). Whisk 2 eggs with remaining pinch salt and pour evenly over plantains. Spread beef over plantains. Arrange remaining plantains in single layer over beef. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Time
1½ hoursYield
Serves 6 to 8Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
This plush, meaty Puerto Rican casserole is a savory-sweet mash-up of two island staples—plátanos maduros fritos (fried ripe plantains) and the briny, sofrito-laced filling called picadillo. For appropriately sweet, velvety-soft plantains, it was critical to start with fruit that had ripened sufficiently. To ensure evenly thick planks for frying, we cut the peeled fruit in half before slicing it into slabs; these stubbier pieces were also easier to manipulate in the hot oil. We used just ¾ cup of oil—enough that the plantains could move freely without sticking. For a dish that was filling but not overly rich, we chose 90 percent lean ground beef for the picadillo. For the meatiest taste, we browned the beef first with a healthy dose of sazón, the Puerto Rican seasoning blend, before combining it with the sofrito; tomato sauce; and alcaparrado, a briny blend of olives, capers, and pimentos. A pour of distilled white vinegar brought all the flavors into focus. After fanning half the plantains across the bottom of a baking dish, we drizzled beaten egg on top to give the casserole a sturdier structure. We topped the pastelón with a light sprinkling of Monterey Jack, which made the dish all the more appealing and comforting.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
If culantro is unavailable, increase the cilantro to 1 cup. You can substitute one small green bell pepper for the Cubanelle, if desired. Buy the largest plantains you can find; they should be almost completely black and yield to firm pressure, like a ripe avocado. The seasoning mix sazón can be found in the international section of your supermarket; we like versions that include cilantro and achiote for this dish, but any will work. Alcaparrado, a mixture of pitted manzanilla olives, capers, and pimento strips, can be found there too. If you can’t find it, substitute pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives. Serve the pastelón with rice and beans.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Pulse ¾ cup cilantro leaves and stems; 1 seeded and coarsely chopped small Cubanelle pepper; ½ onion, quartered; ¼ cup coarsely chopped culantro; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; and 3 peeled garlic cloves in food processor until coarsely chopped, 12 to 14 pulses.
- Line rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Peel 3–3½ pounds very ripe plantains. Halve 1 plantain crosswise; cut each half lengthwise into thirds. Repeat with remaining plantains.
- Heat ¾ cup vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Carefully lay one-third of plantain pieces in skillet and fry until deep golden brown on 1 side, 3 to 4 minutes. Using 2 spatulas, flip and fry on second side until deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer plantains to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining plantains in 2 batches. Discard excess oil, leaving any browned bits in skillet. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon table salt over plantains.
- Add 1 pound ground beef to now-empty skillet and cook over medium-high heat, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until beef is no longer pink and begins to brown. Sprinkle 2½ teaspoons sazón over meat and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Drizzle 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar over meat and stir to combine. Transfer meat to bowl.
- Transfer cilantro mixture to now-empty skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until onion softens, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 can tomato sauce and continue to cook until mixture thickens and fond begins to form on edges and bottom of skillet, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Stir in beef and 2 tablespoons pitted alcaparrado and continue to cook until sauce is thickened and coats meat, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Arrange half of plantain pieces in lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking dish (plantains will not cover bottom of dish completely). Whisk 2 eggs with remaining pinch salt and pour evenly over plantains. Spread beef over plantains. Arrange remaining plantains in single layer over beef. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
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