Puerto Rican Pastelón

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and butter the inside of a baking dish. Trim the ends of the plantains, slit the skin lengthwise and peel, then cut each one lengthwise into long strips about 5 mm thick. Ripe plantain is soft, so use a sharp knife and go slowly.

   Add in this stepButter (for the dish) 1 tsp

   oven

2. Pour oil 1 cm deep into a 24 cm frying pan and heat over medium heat to about 175 °C. Fry the strips in a single layer for 2 min per side, until deep golden and caramelised on both sides, then drain on paper towels. They are sugary and burn quickly, so don't turn the heat up, and fry in batches.

   Add in this stepVery ripe plantains (skins mostly black) 2Vegetable oil for frying 150 ml

   medium heat

3. Finely chop the onion, pepper, garlic and coriander; together they are sofrito, the flavour base of Puerto Rican cooking. Heat the olive oil in a 20 cm pan over medium heat and cook them for 5 min, until soft and fragrant.

   Add in this stepOlive oil 1 tbspOnion ½Green bell pepper ½Garlic cloves 2Chopped coriander (cilantro) 2 tbsp

   medium heat

4. Add the beef and cook over medium-high heat for 6 min, breaking it up with a spatula, until no pink remains. Stir in the salt, oregano, achiote, tomato sauce and halved olives and simmer for 6 min, until thick with almost no liquid; a watery filling makes a soggy pastelón.

   Add in this stepMinced beef 200 gSalt ¾ tspDried oregano ½ tspAchiote (annatto) powder ½ tspTomato sauce (passata) 100 mlPitted green olives 6

   medium-high heat

5. Cover the base of the 15×15 cm dish with a layer of plantain, trimming strips to fit, then spread over half the picadillo and a third of the cheese. Repeat with plantain, the rest of the picadillo and another third of the cheese, then finish with plantain. Beat the eggs well, pour them evenly over the top so they seep into the gaps, and scatter with the remaining cheese.

   Add in this stepGrated mozzarella (or mixed with cheddar) 90 gEggs 2

6. Bake in the oven for 30 min, until the cheese is golden and a knife pushed into the centre shows no runny egg. Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting so the layers hold.

   oven