Pastelón de Plátano (Ripe Plantain Pie)

“You scored a 10 on this,” my sister said as she reached for seconds of the Ripe Plantain Pie I’d made for dinner.

If I scored the food on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest mark, like my sister, I’d give it a ten, too. The pie tasted very good. Regular readers know from past posts that my all time favorite food is plantain.

I developed the taste for plantain as a youngster in Africa. Although my favorite way to eat plantain is in its plainest prepared form (kelewele), I like that there are different plantain recipes. Depending on the country, there are several ways to prepare it.

Since I love plantain and it goes back to my childhood days, it’s become a comfort food for me and I enjoy eating it in any form. So, when I found this recipe on Stephan Cooks, I knew that I’d try it. Thanks, Stephan!

This is a Puerto Rican recipe known as Pastelón de Plátano (Ripe Plantain Pie). Stephen describes it as “sort of the Shepard’s Pie of Puerto Rico, although a lot more interesting.” I have to agree. The piecrust is made from ripe plantains and the filling from ground beef (or pork). Add bacon, onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, olives capers, oregano and tomato paste and you have a scrumptious pie.

The recipe is fairly easy to follow. I made my piecrust and filling, and then I put them together and placed the pie in the oven. Yes, the oven. Thankfully, our heat wave spell has temporarily broken, so I was able to brave the oven. I practiced Ulrike’s trick when she baked Rosemary flatbread on one of the hottest days in the history of her country. I used the oven in the evening when the weather was a little cooler.

I served the plantain pie with salad. It tasted so good that no one left a crumb on their plate.

Gourmet meal at a fancy restaurant… $200
Fast food at Mc Donald’s… $7
Comfort food at home… priceless

This is my contribution to July’s From My Rasoi event. Meena from Hooked on Heat created this fun food affair. Revathi from En Ulagam is the guest host and has chosen comfort foods as the theme. What is your comfort food? Share them with us!
Deadline: August 1, 2006
Send your post link to: Revathicsm AT yahoo DOT com

Paz

Pastelón de Plátano (Ripe Plantain Pie)
Adapted from Rice and Beans and Tasty Things: A Puerto Rican Cookbook, by Dora Romano

Filling
1 lb ground beef or pork
4 oz bacon, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small tomato, finely chopped
1 small sweet pepper, finely chopped
2 small hot peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
10 pitted green olives, chopped
1 T capers, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 T tomato paste
1/4 C water

Crust
4 large ripe plantains, boiled and peeled
3 T butter, softened

Sauté the ground meat and bacon until browned in a heavy skilled, stirring, over medium heat. Remove the meat, salt to taste, and set aside. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan and add the onion and peppers. Sauté, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, olives, capers, oregano, tomato paste and water and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Return the meat to the pan and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To make the crust, mash the plantains and mix in the butter. Line the bottom of a buttered 9″ pie plate with half of the mashed plantains. Spread the meat filling over the plantains and top with the rest of the plantains. Dot with butter and bake in a preheated 375º oven about 25 minutes, until nicely browned.

About to prepare the crust - boiled ripe plantain and butter.

Straight from the oven

Almost gone