Black bean pastelón (Puerto Rican plantain lasagna)
Layers of sweet roasted plantain, savory sofrito black beans and melted cheese baked into a golden casserole, the sweet-and-salty Puerto Rican classic made meatless.
- 85 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $1.81 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 4 plantains, very ripe, mostly black
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
From your pantry
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Each serving has about 530 calories, 21 g protein, 67 g carbs and 22 g fat, and costs about $1.81 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 425°F and line two rimmed baking sheets with .
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
Cut the ends off the plantains, slit the and pull it off, then each plantain lengthwise into 4 long strips.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dolly’s tip: Very ripe plantains are soft and sweet. The peel should be mostly black.Lay the strips on the pans, brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil, sprinkle with of salt, and 18 to 20 minutes, flipping once, until and soft.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 19 min
Meanwhile, heat the rest of the oil in a large over medium heat and cook the onion and pepper 6 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic, cilantro, cumin and oregano for 1 minute.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Add the tomato sauce, beans and 1 teaspoon salt and 8 to 10 minutes, mashing a few beans, until thick.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Turn the oven down to 375°F. Line an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish with a third of the plantain strips, then half the beans and a third of the cheese.
Repeat with another layer of plantains, the rest of the beans and a third of the cheese, then finish with the last plantains and cheese.
25 minutes, until bubbling and on top.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 25 min
Let it rest 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: The rest lets the layers settle, so the squares hold their shape.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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