Turkey Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

This Turkey Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna) is a crowd favorite with melty cheese, sweet plantains, and savory meat. Make it for your next potluck and wow your friends!

Turkey Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

Recently, while visiting Christian in Gainesville, we ate dinner at a Latin restaurant downtown named Emiliano’s. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Gainesville – they’ve got such a hodgepodge of hispanic cuisine, including Cuban, my very biased favorite. The two dishes I always order at Emiliano’s are the Ropa Vieja or the Pastelon. Their Pastelon is a little different, however. At least from the version I make at home. It’s a tower of shredded chicken, rice, plantains, and melted cheese, and it’s freaking delectable.

Over a year ago, I adapted this recipe from Skinnytaste (one of my favorite food blogs!). It was a major hit in my house at the time, and I’ve made it countless times since – still in love! To be frank, the recipe I adapted was relatively complicated, so I lazy’d it down a bit. You know me, folks.

Sweet Plantain Lasagna

Although this recipe is a bit laborious for a weeknight meal (weeknight meal defined, to me, as throw it together and eat), it is a great make ahead option. I would make a large batch of this on a Sunday, or even double the recipe and make two – one to feed the family at Sunday supper, and one to eat the rest of the week. Because, trust me, you’ll want it all week.

It’s such a delectable combination of sweet plantains, salty turkey, refreshing cilantro, acidic tomatoes, crunchy onions and peppers. If there was such thing as a party in your mouth, this Pastelon would be the main attraction. Just sayin’.

Sweet Plantain Lasagna

This is actually a repurpose of an old post – this recipe was originally shared here in April 2015! Let’s take a look at the old photos…

Sweet Plantain Lasagna Sweet Plantain Lasagna

Still a household favorite!

If you’ve never tried plantains, I think this is a great recipe to start with. Some people are a little grossed out by the texture of cooked plantains, and while these are, of course, cooked, they are mixed in with so much texture and flavor, you wouldn’t even care about their texture. Note: I happen to love the texture of cooked plantains.

Alright, friends. Whip yourself up some Turkey Pastelon and flip on your favorite show. It’s time to relax and enjoy the Latin flavors!

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Turkey Pastelon
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • [b]Turkey:[/b]
  • 1.25 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 red, 1/4 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Handful fresh cilantro
  • 4 oz can tomato sauce
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pepper, to taste
  • Cumin, to taste
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • [b]Pastelon:[/b]
  • 3 ripe plantains, peeled and sliced lengthwise
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 large egg whites, beaten
  • 2 tbsp skim milk
  • 1 package Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8×8 baking dish.
  2. Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add turkey and break up with a spatula.
  3. When turkey starts to cook, add onion, tomato, peppers, garlic, and cilantro. Combine well.
  4. Continue to break the meat up into smaller pieces.
  5. Add capers (with vinegar!), cumin, bay leaves, salt, pepper, tomato sauce and about 1/4 cup of water.
  6. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  7. Spray a small saute pan and heat to medium. Lay plantain slices on pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side.
  8. After picadillo is finished cooking, spoon into baking dish.
  9. Top picadillo with a layer of shredded cheese.
  10. Add the plantain slices on top of the cheese.
  11. Beat together the eggs with the milk and add to pastelon mixture to keep things binded while baking.
  12. Top plantains with remainder of cheese and cover with foil.
  13. Bake for about 25 minutes.
  14. When cheese is completely melted, change oven setting to broil and broil for about 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn! Remove when cheese starts to brown.
  15. Enjoy with an avocado salad and black beans!

 

Turkey Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

Sweet Plantain Lasagna

 

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Easiest weeknight meal ever?

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Turkey Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)

Comments

  1. says

    Omg sweet plantain lasagna?! I LOVE this variation on the traditional! :) Also love to see how far you’ve come in your photography too, you’re so talented Christina! Favorite weeknight meal is probably a frittata (or anything with eggs) or baked salmon with a mess of veggies on the side :)

  2. says

    This looks absolutely incredible. Awesome spice combo + melty cheese + some veggies for good measure = yummm! Enchilada bakes are my favorite kind of casserole, and for easy weeknight dinners I love a simple veggie frittata or… pancakes. Because sometimes you just need breakfast twice. 😛

  3. says

    I love breakfast casseroles! Instant food coma that makes you want to go back to bed right after you eat it…LOL! I honestly cannot remember the last time that I had a casserole. This looks DELISH!

  4. says

    I’m super intrigued by this recipe! I haven’t ventured into cooking with plantains but this looks so good I might have to start! :)

  5. says

    Wow, I’ve never had a plantain lasagna, and I love plantains, so this looks like a really good dinner option for next week! Bookmarking to share. I think your pictures from 2015 looked really good, and these ones are just super gorgeous.

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