Facts About Pastelón
Pastelón is a Puerto Rican casserole dish layered like Italian lasagne made with exclusively sweet plantains, stuffed with mincemeat, vegetables, and bound together with beaten eggs. A common misconception is that cheese and tomato based-sauces are a component of this dish, but this is considered anathema in Puerto Rican culture.
Ingredients and preparation
The pastelón is a casserole dish consisting of typical Latin Caribbean foods such as plantains, sofrito, and seasoned, mince meat (beef).
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic this dish is closely related to casserole. Sweet plantains are boiled and then mashed. Ground meat is layered with beaten eggs and sometimes cheddar cheese is added. The dish is then baked.
Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico pastelón is considered a Puerto Rican lasagna. Sweet plantains are boiled and then mashed with milk, eggs, olive oil or butter. The sweet plantain mash is then separated for layering. Ground meat is usually seasoned with chopped peppers, onions, basil, raisins, olives, capers, tomatoes and garlic. Plantain mash is then spread on the bottom of a backing pan layered with meat or vegetables (mushroom, eggplant, green beans, spinach etc.) cheese and bechamel sauce. This is then repeated about two more times making layers just like a lasagna. It is then backed for an additional 20 minutes.
Haiti