Everyone is always looking forward to the pernil during any Latino-Caribbean function but secretly I’m hoping they have pastelón. You can’t beat sweet plantain, savory meat or poultry layered with loads of cheese just like a lasagna. I wish I could eat it every day tbh which is why I’m always looking for creative modifications we can implement to dishes like this so we’re about enjoy our foods regularly throughout the week, if we’d wish. If you’re in The Bronx you can get everything used in this recipe delivered to your door by purchasing The Naturally Yuly Bundle on Groupr.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying pastelón as is but if I’m craving for meal prep, I want to have an option that’s a bit more aligned with my current fitness goals. If you’ve been following me on Instagram the last few months, you’ll know I started pole dancing as a new sport! It’s been incredible but definitely NOT easy, phew!! The strength, mobility and coordination needed is insane.
I’ve had to focus a bit more on my training AND nutrition, so this Spinach Pastelón has been a great side dish to accompany my veggies and protein for dinner. There are a few ways to make pastelón; if you’re Puerto Rican, you might fry your plantain strips. If you’re Dominican, you might boil your maduros and then mash them up, or maybe you’re like me and you enjoy it both ways!
For the purpose of this recipe, we’re actually going to take the Boricua method with a more calorie friendly approach by air frying our sweet plantain. It’s no surprise that I love my air fryer haha but we are still using the oven to melt the cheese. Depending on the size of your air fryer you could actually do that in the air fryer as well.
Let’s talk about our picadillo first. You can use ground beef, turkey, chicken or even tofu! For this recipe, I’m using ground chicken. You can also customize your seasoning however you’d like, I’m using the base I use for every picadillo: garlic, thyme, peppers, white onion, sofrito and tomato paste. Feel free to add scallion, scotch bonnet, or literally anything else! You’ll see at the end of the cooking process, I wilt some spinach and cilantro.
Jump to Recipe
Once your protein is cooked, everything else is just as easy.
Aside from the protein, plantain, and mozzarella cheese, you’ll also need 1 beaten egg, 1/2 bag of spinach and a handful of chopped cilantro.
I also want to note that I am not layering cheese anywhere between the lasagna, to again, help keep the dish more calorie friendly. I’m also lactose intolerant LMAO!!! We’re only adding cheese to the top layer but don’t worry, everything is still going to be super moist due to the spinach in the ground chicken and the egg we spread between the layers to assure everything sticks together. Let’s actually get right into the recipe now. Cheers!
Yellow Plantain Spinach Lasagna (Pastelón)
Equipment
- Stove
- Air fryer
Materials
Picadillo/Ground Chicken
- 1 pack ground chicken, you can use 2-3 packs if you want to meal prep this protein for other dishes!
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp sofrito, heaping spoonfuls
- 3 sprigs thyme, fresh
- 1 leaf bay leaf, dry
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp all purpose seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp garlic power
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp thyme, dried
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 2 cups spinach, or more, your choice!
- 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Pastelon
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 large yellow plantain, ripe
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for the air fryer
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tsp olive oil. Add the ground chicken and brown it, breaking it up as it cooks. Once water has evaporated and meat has browned, add garlic, onion, diced pepper, sofrito and tomato paste and all of your seasonings. Continue cooking and add small splashes of water to deepen the color and prevent burning. This entire process takes about 10-12 mins but it's worth it.
- Once browned and everything has combined nicely, add enough water to just cover the chicken then add your bay leaf and thyme sprig. Let it simmer on medium heat until the water evaporates about 15 mins.
- While the chicken in cooking, cut and slice your plantain into long strips but not too thin. Spray olive oil on either side and air fry on 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until just golden. Remember, we're baking them again. This is also a good step to pre heat your oven to 400 degrees if your air fryer isn't big enough to place your pastelón casserole dish.
- Once your chicken has cooked and most of the water has evaporated, taste seasoning and adjust if needed. Add your washed and chopped spinach and cilantro — cook together for 30 seconds and remove ground chicken from pan and set aside.
- Your plantain should be done now as well so in your baking dish, add a tiny little bit of ground chicken to create your first layer and help the plantain stick. Layer your strips of plantain, ground chicken and drizzle the beaten egg over the chicken to ensure everything sticks together.
- Traditionally, you would add cheese after the meat but we're going straight to another layer of plantain and meat to keep it calorie friendly. Create another layer, spready a little bit of egg again then top with a layer of mozzarella cheese.
- Add your pastelón into the oven on 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes then broil on hi for 1-2 minutes until cheese is melted and has nice color on it. Enjoy this as a high protein main dish or side dish.
