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Make this with sweet plantain strips fried and placed between layers of savory meat and cheese.
Make this with sweet plantain strips fried and placed between layers of savory meat and cheese.
Ingredients
Puerto Rican picadillo
- 5 ripe plantains (the darker the better); peeled and sliced into strips
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups Mozzarella cheese
- Frying oil; enough to coat the bottom of your pan
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Puerto Rican picadillo
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves of garlic; minced
- 1/4 cup Sofrito
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Adobo seasoning
- 10 pimiento-stuffed olives; cut in half
- 2 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
Sofrito
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 head garlic
- 1 bunch Fresh cilantro
- 12 Ajies Dulces
- 6 leaves Recao
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon crushed oregano
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Preparation
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare Puerto Rican Picadillo (seasoned ground meat)
- Heat skillet at medium-high, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Sauté onions, garlic, and sofrito until onions are translucent.
- Add ground beef
- Season with dry adobo.
- Brown the meat.
- Add olives, bay leaves, water, and tomato sauce, stir until well combined. Raise heat to bring to a boil.
- Lower heat to a simmer cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and let simmer for another 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Set aside.
- Prepare the Maduro (sweet plantains)
- Heat a large frying pan with vegetable oil, just enough to coat the bottom.
- Fry plantains for two to three minutes on each side or until golden and slightly crispy.
- Drain on a plate with paper towel, set aside.
To assemble pastelon:
- Start with a layer of plantains
- Brush with eggs
- Then a layer of the picadillo
- Then a fistful of cheese
- Repeat.
- You want to finish with plantains and cheese.
- Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.