Pastelón de Dalva, Yucca Mash, Pulled Pork & Sweet Plantain
By Chef Gustavo Sanchez, at The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico.
Serves two.
“Pastelón is a classic dish in Puerto Rican Cuisine. It’s our version of lasagna using fried sweet plantain instead of pasta layered with beef stewed in tomato, garlic, onions and olives. In this recipe I like to use pulled pork and mashed yucca or cassava root, as the combination of the sweet from the plantain lends itself well with the savory from the pork. I ate so much of this dish when I was young, my mom would send it through the mail next day delivery while I was in studying in New York”.
INGREDIENTS
For the pork:
1 lb. pork Boston butt, cut into 4” chunks
1 large yellow onion, quartered
1 large carrot, quartered
1/2 cup tomato paste
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
2 qt chicken stock
2 Tbsp white vinegar
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
For the pulled pork:
1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Season pork liberally with salt and pepper then sear until golden brown. Remove and reserve.
2. Add pork chunks to the pot with the pork drippings, onions and celery. Cook until onions are translucent, then add garlic and tomato paste. Allow the vegetables and paste to caramelize.
3. Once the tomato paste has caramelized, deglaze the pot with chicken stock. Return the pork and drippings to the pot with bay leaves, thyme and vinegar.
4. Bring the pork to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 2 hours or until the pork pulls apart. Remove the pork and allow to cool. The braising liquid can be strained and reserved.
5. Once cool, shred and reserve.
INGREDIENTS
For the yucca mash:
1/2 lb. russet potato peeled, diced large
1/2 lb. yucca, peeled diced large
4 oz butter
Salt, to taste
DIRECTIONS
For the mash:
1. In a pot cover the potatoes and yucca with water by one inch. Season and bring to a boil.
2. Once the yucca is fork tender, strain liquid. Mash the yucca and potatoes in the warm pot, adding butter until the mash has a smooth consistency. There should be no chunks of yucca. Season to taste with salt. Reserve warm.
FINAL INGREDIENTS
6 oz cooked pork
1/2 cup yucca mash
1/2 sweet plantain
2 slices provolone cheese
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
TO ASSEMBLE
1. Pre-heat broiler on low heat. Heat vegetable oil in skillet. Cut the sweet plantain in half, and slice lengthwise into ¼ inch slices.
2. Heat the pork with some of the broth and keep warm. Fry the plantains in the oil on both sides until soft and dark brown. Remove from oil on paper towels and reserve.
3. Assemble the plantains on a sheet pan so that two slices are side by side and a slice of provolone cheese covers them. Every 2 slices is a layer and each dish will be 2 layers tall.
4. Place sheet pan with cheese covered plantains under the broiler and cook until the cheese has melted and slightly browned.
5. On a serving plate, spoon yucca mash to make a base. Add half of the pulled pork and cover with one layer of the broiled sweet plantain.
6. Add another layer of the pork and top with another layer of sweet plantain. Serve.
Learn more about Chef Gustavo Sanchez on his Chef’s Roll profile here.
