Pinon: Carribean style beef and plantains

My husband's family is from the Dominican Republic, so plantains were a staple when he was growing up. When we started cooking together, I was introduced to plantains, and they quickly became a regular part of our cooking. However, I only know a limited number of ways to cook with them, most of which feature the plantain as the main ingredient. This recipe on the Food Network site caught my eye because it includes plantains, but incorporates a lot of other ingredients and flavors.

Plantains have a bit of a dual personality. When they are not ripe, they are green, hard, and taste similar to potatoes. However, when they ripen they turn yellow/brown, soften, and have a sweet flavor, like bananas. It always amazes me that you can get such a wide range of textures and flavors from a single ingredient!

Some traditional uses of green plantains include mangu, which tastes similar to textured mashed potatoes, and tostones, which are basically french fries made from plantains. Platanos maduros is a dish where the ripe plantains are fried and is reminiscent of banana flambe.

This recipe calls for semi-ripe plantains, which means that they are yellow, with brown spots. Usually you can find both green and ripe plantains for sale. However, if you can only find green plantains, you can also keep them on your counter until they ripen. While I haven't done this myself, this site says that keeping them for a week in a paper bag will do the trick.

This interpretation of pinon is like a lasagna, with plantains instead of noodles, and Spanish spices that heighten the flavor. The ground beef is spicy and contrasts with the sweetness of the raisins and plantains. (Did I mention that one of my favorite flavor combinations is spicy and sweet??) The Parmesan cheese in this dish is definitely an Italian inspired addition, and makes it feel more like a lasagna. As far as I can tell from poking around online, this recipe is based on a traditional Puerto Rican omelette, but it takes some diversions from the authentic version.

One ingredient in this recipe that was new to me was achiote, a spice commonly used in Latin American cuisine. I picked some up when I first made this dish and I have found that it is generally useful in other things that I make. However, if you don't feel like getting any, I think a good substitute would be paprika. It has the same bold color and mild smoky flavor.

One thing that I would like to experiment with next time I make this is baking the plantains, instead of frying them. I suspect you could get pretty much the same flavor, and it would be a lot healthier, as well as less time consuming.

Here is what it looks like:


And here is the recipe, based on this Food Network recipe:

Pinon: Carribean style beef and plantains
(serves 5-6)

Ground beef filling:
1.25 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1/2 tsp pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tsp ground achiote
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1 16 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained (juices reserved), and chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup raisins
1.5 Tbsp red wine vinegar

For the lasagna layers:
4 semi-ripe plantains, yellow with some spots
olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of a pan
2 eggs
2-3 Tbsp. milk, or water
1/2 - 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
cilantro, optional for garnish

Note that you can make the ground beef filling in advance and store in the fridge until you are ready to make the rest.

Also a tip on cooking this for 2-3 people. Instead of just cutting the whole recipe in half, usually I cook all of the ground beef filling and save half of it for the next day. Then I halve the ingredients used for the other lasagna layers. For example, only 2 plantains, 1 egg, etc. A loaf pan works perfectly for the halved recipe.

Cook ground beef in a large pot over medium heat until no longer pink. Add the onion, red and green bell pepper, bay leaves, and spices. Cook for a few more minutes until the onions and peppers begin to soften.

Add all remaining ingredients to the beef, including the chopped tomatoes and reserved juice, tomato sauce, raisins, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and let the flavors combine for 10-15 minutes. At this point, taste and adjust the spices to your liking.

Set the beef aside to cool while you prepare the plantains.

Peel the plantains and cut diagonally into 1/4-1/3 inch thick slices. (Tip for peeling a plantain: the skin is a little thicker than bananas, so you'll want to cut one end off and slice through the skin lengthwise three times, spaced evenly around the plantain. Then the skin will peel off easily.)

Heat a large pan on medium heat and lightly coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot (bubbles when you add a small piece of plantain), add enough slices to cover the bottom of the pan. When the bottom is browned (after a couple minutes), flip to cook the other side. Remove when both sides are lightly browned. (Note the dark brown color on some of the plantain slices in the middle of my picture - that's probably a little too brown :-))

Remove slices to a paper towel to drain and repeat the process for the remaining plantain slices. Add more oil if the pan gets dry in some areas.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly oil a large rectangular baking pan (3 quart capacity). Combine eggs and milk in a bowl and lightly beat. Add half of the egg mixture to the bottom of the pan. Follow with a layer of 1/3 of the plantains, 1/2 of the beef mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Repeat another 1/3 of the plantains, remaining beef, and remaining cheese. Top with a layer of plantains. Finally, pour the remaining egg mixture evenly over the top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake until hot and bubbling. If you started with freshly cooked beef (not out of the fridge), usually all the ingredients start warm and you only need to bake for 30 minutes. However, starting with cold beef, you really need to bake for about an hour to heat through.

Remove the foil, sprinkle with cilantro, and enjoy!