Pastel de Platano Macho Tabasqueno

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart clay cazuela or heavy baking dish
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Wide skillet for the picadillo
• •Blender
• •Wooden spoon or potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the plantains

   Heat the oven to 400F. Cut a shallow slit down each plantain skin and set the plantains on a baking sheet. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the skins split wider and the flesh feels heavy and soft when pressed. Ripe plantain is the body of this dish. If the skins are yellow, wait another day. The sweetness is not decoration, it balances the salty picadillo.

2. 2

   Mash the plantain

   Peel the hot plantains and place the flesh in a bowl. Mash with 3 tablespoons manteca de cerdo, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, and 1/2 cup crumbled queso de poro until thick and spreadable. Do not make it perfectly smooth. A few soft ridges give the pastel its structure. La manteca es el sabor.

   If the mash is stiff, add 1 or 2 tablespoons warm water. Do not add milk. This is not mashed potato. The plantain should taste like plantain.
3. 3

   Brown the meats

   Melt 1 tablespoon lard in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground pork and ground beef with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the juices cook off and the meat begins to brown at the edges, about 8 minutes. Browning matters. Boiled gray meat makes a weak picadillo.

4. 4

   Cook the picadillo

   Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped jitomates, and green bell pepper. Cook until the jitomate collapses and the mixture looks glossy, about 8 minutes. Stir in the raisins, olives, capers, almonds, achiote, oregano, minced chile amashito, epazote, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 5 minutes more, until the picadillo is moist but not wet. You want filling, not soup.

5. 5

   Char the salsa vegetables

   Set a comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Roast the 3 jitomates, 1/4 onion, unpeeled garlic cloves, and the optional chile amashito until blistered in spots. The jitomates should soften and leak a little juice. Peel the garlic. Blend everything with a pinch of salt until mostly smooth.

6. 6

   Fry the salsa

   Melt 1 tablespoon lard in a small cazuela or skillet over medium heat. Pour in the blended salsa. It will sputter. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the color deepens and the salsa thickens enough to coat a spoon. Frying the salsa is what removes the raw edge of the jitomate. No me vengas con atajos.

7. 7

   Layer the pastel

   Lower the oven to 375F. Grease a 2-quart clay cazuela or baking dish with lard. If using hoja de platano, line the bottom and sides with it, shiny side up. Spread half the plantain mash in an even layer, pressing it into the corners. Spoon the picadillo over it. Spread half the fried salsa over the meat. Cover with the remaining plantain mash, then spoon the rest of the salsa over the top.

8. 8

   Bake until golden

   Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup queso de poro over the top. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges bubble, the cheese freckles gold, and the plantain top blisters in dark caramel spots. Let it rest 15 minutes before serving. If you cut it too soon, the layers slide around. Patience is also a technique.

9. 9

   Serve from the cazuela

   Bring the cazuela to the table and serve generous spoonfuls, not neat little squares. This belongs beside roasted pork, puchero, or a table of thick hand-pressed tortillas tabasquenas. The pastel is sweet, salty, soft, and sharp from the chile amashito. That balance is Tabasco.

Chef Tips

• •Use plantains with black skins. If they are still yellow, the mash will be dry and starchy. Put them in a paper bag for a day or two and wait. The market decides the calendar.
• •Chile amashito is the Tabasco chile you want: small, green or red, sharp, and clean. If you cannot find it outside southeastern Mexico, use one chile serrano. That is a compromise, not the same flavor.
• •Queso de poro from Balancan or Tenosique is right for Tabasco when you can find it. Queso fresco works, but it will not have the same tang and texture. Ask the women at the market before you ask the supermarket.
• •Do not use cheddar. Do not use sour cream. That belongs to another kitchen, not this one.
• •The banana leaf is optional, but useful. It perfumes the bottom of the pastel and helps the plantain release from the cazuela. Pass it over a flame first so it becomes flexible instead of tearing.

Advance Preparation

• •The picadillo can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Rewarm it before layering so it spreads evenly.
• •The fried jitomate salsa can be made 2 days ahead. Its flavor deepens after a night in the refrigerator.
• •The whole pastel can be assembled 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Bake it covered for 15 minutes, then uncover and bake until the top blisters and the center is hot.
• •Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated. Reheat in a 350F oven, uncovered, so the top does not turn soggy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 305g)