Pastelón

When people find out I love to cook they almost always quickly and excitedly ask "Oh, what do you like to cook? Do you cook Latin food?"

I almost always bashfully reply in the negative, eliciting the same reaction I see when I tell people I'm not a good dancer.

Pastelón is my one redeeming dish. And I have to say, I couldn't have asked for a more delicious and satisfying one.

I've described it as "Puertorican Lasagna", " Plantain Sheppard's Pie" but more accurately it is a sweet and savory dish, a cousin of meat and potatoes; the ultimate comfort food.

All it takes are a few ingredients -

1 pk of ground turkey of beef (make the switch, go turkey!)

4 over-ripe plantains
1 pack of shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
vegetable oil

You can use any variety of the following to season the meat:

salt, pepper, garlic, onions, cilantro, tomato paste, paprika, cumin, hot sauce, green olives

Procedure:

First, find the darkest, ugliest looking plantains you can find (the uglier, the sweeter).

Cut plantains lengthwise. I cut the plantain in half then cut slices lengthwise.

Set the plantains aside

Saute onions, garlic, cilantro, tomato paste at medium heat, until onions start to become translucent.

Add the meat and season.

In a separate pan, heat about half an inch of oil. Once oil is hot (you can test this by dipping a small piece of plantain- if bubbles build around it, the oil is ready) add plantains.

Cook these until they are golden brown. Remember to turn them.

In an oven-safe pan lay a single layer of fried plantains, then sprinkle cheese, follow this with a layer of the meat mixture, and follow with a layer of plantains and continue...

Once you've layered all the ingredients pour the whisked eggs on top and shift the pan around so that it goes down all the corners. The purpose of the eggs is to keep the mixture together as is in most casseroles.

Add more cheese on top and bake at 350° for approx 25 minutes.