Paleo Pastelón (Sweet Plantain Lasagna) {Whole30}

I know a number of folks saw pictures of this dish right here and thought, “so she’s broken her Whole30, there’s no way she can have that!”  And they’re all wrong.  While this looks like it would certainly be a cheat, it’s not!  I’ve adapted this Pastelón to make it 100% Whole30 compliant.   And believe it or not, I really didn’t have to do that much!  I eliminated the cheese, replaced the milk with coconut milk and made sure the tomato sauce was sugar free and the raisin didn’t have sulfites.  Regular sazón was out, thanks to MSG (among other problematic ingredients I don’t recognize), so I made my own sazón blend.  It’s remarkably easy with spices on hand!  While I’m often hesitant about the results when removing cheese from a casserole, we didn’t miss it at all!  In fact, the main difference between this Pastelón and the last one I made was that I had no guilt eating the leftovers!  I remember last time feeling that this was an extremely heavy, salty dish.  Definitely a once in a while indulgence, so much so that we left the leftovers with friends.  This time?  Well, I’ve been eating them for breakfast!

Paleo Pastelón (Puerto Rican Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

Adapted from the non-Paleo version I made last year

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 gloves garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp homemade sazón (see below)
• 2 tsp adobo
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 bay leaves
• 10 green stuffed olives, quartered
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 5 plantains, peeled and sliced into strips
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Coconut oil to fry plantains
• Clarified butter (ghee) to grease pan
• 1 Sous-chef (optional but helpful!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Thoroughly butter a 9″x13″ casserole dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine, beef, onion, pepper, garlic, adobo, vinegar and sazon.  Mix well.
3. Heat a large skillet at medium heat with 1 T olive oil.  Add meat mixture and cook until beef is browned.  Add the bay leaves, olives, raisins and tomato sauce.  Mix and let simmer for about 10 minutes while frying your plantains. 
4. Heat a large frying pan with enough oil to coat the bottom.  Fry the plantains for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden and slightly crispy.  Drain on a plate with paper towel and set aside.
5. To assemble:  In your buttered pan, start by layering with 1/2 of your plantains. Spread meat mixture evenly over top and then add the other half of your plantains (save the prettiest ones for the top layer!).
6. Beat eggs and coconut milk in a small bowl and pour over the pastelón, making sure it spreads evenly.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown!

Serves 8

Homemade Sazón:

• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp  garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp  ground cumin

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Johanna