Description
Let’s make Pastelón, a traditional Puerto Rican lasagna-style dish made with layers of fried sweet plantains, sofrito, ground beef picadillo, pimento olives, and mozzarella cheese. Often called a sweet plantain lasagna, this baked dish is the perfect combination of crispy, creamy, sweet and salty.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 cup sofrito
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 tsp sazon seasoning
- 1 tsp adobo seasoning
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup pimento olives, sliced
- salt to taste
- 4-6 brown plantains
- 2 cups oil for frying
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Nonstick spray
Instructions
- Make the picadillo. Sauté onions and peppers in olive oil over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Add sofrito, ground beef, and spices. Break up the beef as it browns before adding the tomato sauce and olives. Lower, cover, and cook for 10 minutes or until beef is fully cooked. Add salt to taste.
- Slice & fry the plantains. Start by peeling the plantains and slicing thinly lengthwise to create long strips. Fry the strips in batches in hot oil until they are all deep golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Layer & bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a square pan with non stick cooking spray. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Layer some picadillo in the base of the pan, top with strips of plantain, brush with egg, add picadillo and shredded mozzarella. Repeat these layers until ingredients run out, finishing with a layer of plantains and cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, broiling for a minute so the cheese gets golden brown.
- Serve. Let the pastelón cool for at least 10 minutes so that it can set before slicing and serving. Buen provecho!
Notes
Make Ahead Tip: You can make the picadillo filling up to 3 days in advance, which makes the process of assembling this dish much faster.