PASTELES WITH YUCA AND PLANTAINS

Pasteles with Yuca and Plantains image

This is a traditional holiday family meal. This recipe has been in our family for years. It is a Puerto Rican dish. It is customary to make this and give them away to all the people you love.

Provided by Mfact

Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Caribbean

Time 2h18m

Yield 24

Number Of Ingredients 22

Ingredients

2 pounds yuca, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 pounds green plantains, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 pounds yautia, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cups milk
1 pound lard
1 pound achiote seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil, or to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 pounds pork shoulder roast, cut into small cubes
1 pound ham, cut into small cubes
2 cups garbanzo beans
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (5 ounce) jar pitted Spanish olives
1 (4 ounce) jar capers
3 tablespoons orange juice
4 sprigs cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
24 plantain leaves
kitchen string

Steps:

Combine yuca, green plantains, yautia, and milk in a blender; puree into a thick paste the consistency of oatmeal.
Combine lard and achiote seeds in a saucepan over medium-low heat; heat until lard is melted, and reddish in color, about 5 minutes. Strain out achiote seeds. Mix half of the lard into the yuca paste.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and green bell pepper; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add pork, ham, garbanzo beans, tomato sauce, olives, capers, orange juice, cilantro, oregano, salt, and garlic; cook and stir until pork is no longer pink in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Mix 2/3 of the remaining lard into the pork mixture.
Smear each plantain leaf with a small amount of remaining lard. Place a large spoonful of the yuca paste in the center of each one; top with a scoop of the pork mixture. Fold up the sides of each leaf to enclose the filling and create a rectangular pastel.
Stack 2 pasteles and tie them together with kitchen string. Repeat with remaining pasteles.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasteles. Cook until filling is tender, about 1 hour. Unwrap pasteles before serving.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 416.8 calories, Carbohydrate 31.2 g, Cholesterol 45 mg, Fat 28.2 g, Fiber 3 g, Protein 11.8 g, SaturatedFat 10.5 g, Sodium 1118.8 mg, Sugar 8.3 g