Inherited from Aunt Yaya, excellent cook and baker extraordinaire, this delicious recipe is nothing short of fabulous. You can use chicken, ground beef or simply cheese as you may prefer. Keep in mind that there are many recipes for this dish, this is my family recipe.

Time: 50 Mins
Difficulty: Advanced
Serve: 4 people

Before starting to cook: Apply oil to a 4-inch tall baking pan. Heat up the oven to 350 °F.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of rice cooked using our recipe for arroz blanco
• 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 lb. of ground pork
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 2 cups of finely chopped spinach
• 1 teaspoon of basil finely chopped (may be omitted)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 small onion diced into very small cubes
• 1 green pepper diced into very small cubes
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 pinch of oregano
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk
• Salt

Preparation:

1. Mix the ground meat with onions, basil, oregano, green pepper, and black pepper and salt. In a shallow pan heat a tablespoon of oil. Add the ground meat and stir so it cooks uniformly. Add two tablespoons of water and the tomato paste. Let simmer at medium heat. Adjust water when necessary. When the meat is ready adjust salt to taste. Let all the liquid evaporate. Turn off the heat and reserve.
   
2. In a separate pan heat up the butter at low heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously until the two are well mixed. Add half the milk and stir until it reaches a uniform consistency. Add a pinch of salt and the cheese and keep stirring until it becomes a thick cream. Reserve.
   
3. Boil the spinach in the remaining milk adding a pinch of salt to it. As soon as the leaves are tender turn off the fire. Mix half the rice and half the cheese sauce with the spinach.
   
4. Spread white rice in the baking pan, cover with the meat and top with the rice with the spinach (reverse order if you are using a springform baking pan). Put in the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool down a bit before removing the torte from the baking pan.
   
5. Spread the remaining white sauce on top. Serve hot with green salad.

Could I substitue the ground pork for ground beef. My husband hates pork he is the only dominican that I know that hates pork and will not eat it.

Yes, you can vary the fillings - beef instead of pork, or even mushrooms or lentils as a vegetarian alternative for those that way inclined.