Pastelón de Plátano Maduro [Video+Recipe] Ripe Plantain Casserole

Learn how to make pastelon de platano maduro, a ripe plantain casserole with the delicate sweetness of ripe plantains, flavorful beef filling, and melting cheese. Pure bliss.

Course Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Dominican, Latino

Keyword maduro, pastelon

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings porciones

Calories 754kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

For the filling

2 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 red onion [65g], minced
1 tablespoon mashed garlic (3 large garlic cloves)
1 pound ground beef [454g]
1 cup tomato sauce [115g]
1 green bell pepper or red, seeded and minced
1½ teaspoons salt (or more, to taste)
½ teaspoons black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground) (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)

To assemble

6 plantain (ripe, yellow)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup salted butter plus extra to grease pan.
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (see notes)

Instructions

1. Making the filling

Find the recipe and instructions with video for the filling here.

2. Peel the plantain

Peel the plantains and boil adding 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Once the plantains are fork tender (15 - 20 mins), remove them from the heat.

3. Mash the plantains

Drain the water right away, and mash them with a fork.
Add the butter and keep mashing until it is very smooth with no lumps.

4. Layer

Grease a 1-inch tall baking pan. Put half of the plantain mixture in the baking pan. Cover with half of the cheese.
Cover the cheese with the meat. Cover with the remaining plantain mixture. Cover with the rest of the cheese.

5. Bake

Cook in preheated oven to 350 °F [175 °C] until the top is golden brown.

6. Serving

It will be easier to serve if you wait five minutes after removing it from the oven.

Video

Notes

Your choice of cheese and the order in which the layers are distributed is a matter of taste. Basically, any cheese that melts works, I like mixing cheddar and mozzarella cheese, for example, while some people like placing the cheese right after the meat layer.

Go ahead, experiment!

Nutrition