PASTELES RECIPE - (4.2/5)

Pasteles Recipe - (4.2/5) image

Provided by samara72

Number Of Ingredients 23

Ingredients

For the Meat Filling:
2 Tablespoons oil (we used canola)
1/4 cup sofrito (available in the freezer section or Spanish section.
5 lbs of pork shoulder, cut into small bite sized pieces
8 oz tomato sauce
4 oz water
Salt
Garlic powder
For the masa:
20 green cooking bananas (plantains)
5 lbs of yautia or taro root (Yuca)
1 Tablespoon Sofrito
Salt
1/4 cup sauce from the filling
8 oz evaporated milk (optional)
Extras:
A jar of spanish olives, pitted and drained
15 oz can of chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup achiote oil (achiote seeds + water = achiote oil, also found in Spanish aisle)
Assembly:
parchment paper
cooking twine
banana leaves (cut in half)

Steps:

In a medium sauce pot, heat the oil and add the sofrito over medium heat. When the sofrito is fragrant (and trust me, it is!), add the cut up pieces of pork. Stir the pork around in the pan letting it cook. This took us about 9 minutes. While the pork is cooking, sprinkle generously with garlic powder. about 2 Tablespoons. On top of that, pour the tomato sauce and a little bit of water to thin out the sauce. Once it starts to bubble, lower the heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool and store it in an air tight container in the refrigerator overnight. The Next Day: Place newspaper all over the table (this gets messy) start grating 1 yuca then two green bananas, then 1 yuca and so forth (use the small holes in graters) add evaporated milk (slowly) , salt to taste and achiote oil (oil is for color) try very little as its thick but you should be able to tell the taste. set up a station of pork filling, olives, and chick peas, in the center. The stack of parchment paper ready to go in a pile as well as a pile of twine that is easily accessible. On a clean sheet of parchment, place a half sheet of banana leaf in the center Add a half cup sized blob of masa to the banana leaf. Add two tablespoons of pork filling to the masa 5.Top with two olives and a couple of chick peas The Folding. There really is no EXACT way to fold but your main goal should be to make sure the ends are sealed and there are no air pockets in your pasteles. Fold the wrapper in half to close the pastel. Fold the edges over until tightly sealed. If using leaves just fold one over the other until completely sealed Repeat this process again to create a 2nd packet. Place two packs together, seams facing and let the stringing begin. Stringing is all about keeping the pasteles together and from opening during the boiling process. If you are freezing them wrap tightly in foil. Pasteles go right in the freezer. But if you want to prepare your pasteles, simply put up a pot of salted water. Bring it to a boil, and boil the packets are they are for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Allow them to cool slightly and cut the twine and paper.