The other day Luis came home from work and said, “let’s make a pastelón this weekend. I’ve been craving it.” Aside from the basics, I have almost no idea about Puerto Rican food. Turns out, a pastelón is a sort of shepherd’s pie made with ripe plantains layered with seasoned ground beef. We have a book of basic Puerto Rican recipes, the housewife’s staple Cocina Criolla, but the steps were so involved and numerous that Luis decided he’d just call his mom and ask how she did it. Instead of mashing boiled plantains, as the book says to do, she bakes them sliced longways, and layers them sort of like lasagna, but with just one layer of filling.

So between her recipe and the one in the book, here is the one we came up with, based on the ingredients we had on hand, and our preferences. You can certainly get all of these ingredients on almost any corner in Bushwick: bell pepper, garlic, onion, tomato, tomato sauce, plantains, olives, ground beef, eggs, adobo powder. Capers, maybe not, but it doesn’t hurt to look.

Peel and slice longways four ripe plantains, into 4 slices each. The skin doesn’t have to be completely black like for maduros, just has to be mostly black and the inside should be somewhat soft. Lay them out on a cookie sheet as shown, and put in a 350F oven. Luis felt like sprinkling them with some adobo, which is optional — otherwise just lightly salt them. Put them on the top rack so you can get some caramelization, but they should be cooked until just soft and browned.

Always salt each layer of food to your liking. In a pan, sautee 4-6 strips of bacon, depending on thickness, until almost crispy. Add a chopped onion, a chopped bell pepper (green is traditional but in our opinion, gross, so we used a red one), and a chopped tomato. Once that’s cooked down, incorporate however much garlic you prefer, a handful of chopped green Spanish olives, and a few capers. Add 1/2 lb of ground beef and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce — I don’t usually like canned sauces so I just mix a can each of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, but this is just preference. We added a bit of the homemade adobo our friend made us to the mix, and let it simmer on low.

Oil up a 10×10 baking dish (which could certainly be substituted with any dish of a similar size but it’s much easier in a square), and add a tight layer of plantains, using about half of your inventory. Beat an egg and pour it over the plantains, shaking the dish to settle it and using a spoon or spatula to get even coverage. Then pour your beef mixture on top, flattening it evenly all around. Put your remaining plantain slices on the top of this, and pour another beaten egg on top. Press down all around with a spatula to make it even and compacted, and put it in the oven, uncovered, still on 350. Since all the ingredients are pretty much cooked, you could take it out after 20 minutes, but if you want it really golden and firm, keep it in for 45 minutes. When you take it out, you should be able to cut it into pieces and have them stay assembled.

It’s even better the next day. Enjoy!

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