I Missed Pastelón in Puerto Rico. So I Made My Own.

If there was one dish I was most excited to try on my recent trip to Puerto Rico, it was pastelón. In my pre-trip research on local food, this dish, often considered Puerto Rico's version of lasagna, had me so intrigued. Layer meat with plantains and cheese? I'm sold. We were in San Juan for two and a half days, one of which was a wedding, so we only had a little over a day on our own to work through our list.

For dinner, the night before our early flight, I had selected a restaurant specifically because I saw pastelón on the menu. But when we ordered, I received devastating news: no more pastelón that night.

So when it was time to decide what recipes I'd be cooking out of Mia Castro's Cocina Puerto Rico this month, I knew exactly where to start. This one intrigued me because it's so different from any dish I've had before. Sure, the comparisons to lasagna are obvious, but that's really based on the construction, not the flavor. I knew I was going to have to do this myself.

Pastelón is decidedly Puerto Rican and Dominican, but the filling, picadillo, is prevalent worldwide. It was brought to the Americas by the Spanish and comes from the word "picar," which means "to mince." This minced filling takes on different forms from country to country. At its heart, it's ground meat cooked with tomatoes. In most countries, it's made with beef, onions, peppers, and green olives. Boiled eggs are added in the Dominican Republic and Peru, and in the Philippines (not part of the Americas, but a former Spanish colony), soy sauce, carrots, and potatoes are common additions. Raisins are also common across many countries, though this tends to be a polarizing ingredient, as Mia herself mentions in the headnote for her picadillo recipe. Either way, the combination of sweet and savory flavors makes it a standout.

My picadollo, served over rice

Picadillo can be served over a bed of rice, or used as a filling in any number of dishes, including empanadas, chiles rellenos, tamales, pasteles, or cabbage rolls. Notably, it's also used as a stuffing in Chiles en Nogada, which is often considered Mexico's national dish because of its ties to Mexican independence. And, as we know, it's layered into pastelón.

The Dominican and Puerto Rican versions of pastelón are slightly different. Instead of sliced plantains standing in for lasagna noodles, Dominican pastelón uses mashed plantains, which makes it a little more akin to shepherd's pie.

Mia describes pastelón as a dish that her abuela would make when the plantains on the counter were nearing their end, much like how we often think of banana bread here in the US. As with the raisins in the picadillo, the overripe plantains add a sweet dimension to an otherwise savory, briny dish. Such an interesting combination!

Ok, so the pastelón wasn´t my prettiest dish, but it sure was delicious.

While homemade lasagna is often viewed as a labor of love, I really found this to be pretty simple. The picadillo is quick to whip up. I actually made two batches back-to-back because I realized my kids might be a little hesitant about the pastelón. Truly, the only real hurdle I ran into was slicing the plantains. Mine were ripe, but maybe not ripe enough. They slipped and slid while I tried to slice them neatly into lengthwise slabs, and they ended up a little mangled. I think if they'd been ever-so-slightly mushier, they would have been perfectly fine. Mia's recipe calls for five or six, but I'd probably throw in one extra for good measure. I was a little short, probably due to my poor slicing ability.

In our house, Mia's picadillo was given a resounding 10 out of 10, which, if you knew my kids, you'd know is entirely unheard of. My pickiest eater even tried the pastelón and loved it, which says it all. Having tried this dish at home, I would absolutely seek it out next time I'm in Puerto Rico, or really in any city with a good Puerto Rican restaurant. But in the meantime, Mia's version will absolutely do.

Have you had pastelón? Should we do a side-by-side comparison of the Puerto Rican and Dominican versions sometime?

I’m learning the story of these dishes as I cook them, along with many of those who participate in The Edible Itinerary Cookbook Club. Did I miss something? Get something wrong? Do you have some color to add that my [limited] research missed? I’d love to hear it! Please share it in the comments or tag me in your own video! Let’s learn together.

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4