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My Colombian Recipes » Reviews » Pastelón Or Ripe Plantain And Beef Casserole

Pastelón or Ripe Plantain and Beef Casserole

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Pam

Pastelon

I was excited to learn that PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray now has a new and improved product. I was approached by BlogHer to receive and review a free sample of the new PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray and I was very excited because I usually use cooking spray in my recipes.

PAM KIt

I was planing to make Pastelón, a Puerto Rican Ripe Plantain and Beef Casserole, for a while. This dish is sort of like a lasagna, but using ripe plantains instead of pasta. So, when I got my PAM® cooking kit in the mail, I decided to kill two birds with one stone... satisfy my craving for Pastelón and, try the new and improve PAM®.

PAM and Pirex

I decided that Pastelón was the perfect recipe on which to test the new PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. I've made this dish before in a glass baking pan using a non-branded cooking spray and I had a difficult time cleaning the yellow cooking spray residue left on the baking dish.

The verdict... What can I say? I sat down at the dinner table, looking at this delicious casserole in front of me. When I cut the beautiful portions of Pastelón, I was greeted by a fragrance of cheese and spices. The mixture of the beef, raisins and olives with all those spices and the sweetness of the ripe plantains is delectable. This dish is perfect for kids. You just know you will be satisfying their picky taste buds. The Pyrex glass pan was practically clean after simply serving the casserole, never mind cleaning it! The dish tasted great and clean up was so easy that it seemed almost too good to be true. No soaking or scrubbing involved. Sounds perfect to me! By eliminating the difficult scrubbing and clean up of the baking dish, I think I'll be making these types of casseroles more often!

Pastelon Piece

I was very happy with the results of the Ripe Plantain and Beef Casserole using the new and improved PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Now I can even make Italian lasagna without the fear of cleaning cheese and tomato sauce from my baking pan.

Clean up

According to PAM®, the new and improved formula has been shown to be 70% better at attacking baked on food vs. bargain cooking sprays and it has just 7 calories and less than 1 g of fat per serving! Sounds good to me.

On another note, BlogHer is giving away a $100 cooking.com gift card, plus coupons for the new and improved PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray and Hunt's Tomatoes. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us about your favorite dish to make with PAM®.

If you want to learn even more about the new and improved PAM®, you can visit their Facebook page.

Here is my recipe for the Pastelón or Ripe Plantain Casserole

Ingredients
(About 6 servings)

PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
9x13 baking dish
7 very ripe plantains, peeled and sliced

Filling:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 pounds ground beef
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sazon goya with azafrán
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper
3 bay leaves
6 Spanish olives, stuffed with minced pimientos, diced
¾ cup raisins
1 can (14 oz) crushed or diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 beaten eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup white cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, plus ¼ cup
vegetable oil, for frying the plantains

Directions:

Step7

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with PAM® and set aside.

Step 1 Onions

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic, green pepper and cook for 1 more minute.

Step2 Peppers

3. Add the beef and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Step 3 Beef

4. Add the cilantro, Sazón Goya, cumin, oregano, paprika, bay leaves, olives, raisins, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Step5

5. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the plantain slices to the pan, keeping in a single layer, and cook about 2 minutes on each side.

Tajadas

6. Remove the plantains with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

7. In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan cheese with the eggs and water. Set aside.

Step8

8. Lay about one-third of the plantains in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add half of the meat sauce on top.

Step9 Meat

9. Add another layer of plantains. Spread half the egg and cheese mixture evenly on top.

Step10

10. Pour the other half of the meat sauce on top. Repeat step 9 and sprinkle remaining ¼ cup parmesan on top.

Step11

11. Bake in center of oven 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Casserole

SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY RULES

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post.

b)Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.

c)Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.

d)For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.Winners will be selected via random draw and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/1 - 3/31.

Be sure to visit the PAM round-up page on BlogHer.com where you can read other blogger's reviews and find more chances to win!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wendy W.

    I use PAM pretty much everyday - and ALWAYS if I'm cooking inside the oven. It saves SO much time on clean-up after dinner!

  2. Carol B.

    I am very happy using PAM in several of my recipes, I like making chicken and mushroom lasagna because as you said my baking dish comes almost clean just by serving the lasagna. I also like to cook my arepas using a bit of PAM so they do not get stick to my griddle pan.

  3. Raquelle

    I use PAM for greasing dishes. I think it's wonderful! Last time I used it was for pizza monkeybread. I sprayed the inside of the bundt pan with PAM and after cooking the monkeybread came out with no issues!

  4. Raquelle

    I tweeted your recipe & mentioned the giveaway here: https://twitter.com/#!/Thoughtfuleats/status/175284880324837376 @thoughfuleats

    I just put your Pastelon recipe on my menu plan for next week. It looks so good! I've never tried it before. I've had a lot of luck with your recipes so I'm excited to try this one.

  5. Ashley H.

    I always use pam when I make lasagna.

  6. Laura S.

    PAM is a great product - saves so much clean-up time and easy to use. My favorite dish to use PAM with is mostaccioli. Glad it worked for the pastelon recipe!

  7. courtney b

    yum that looks SO good- we like to make veggie omlettes

  9. Ashley K

    Not so much a dish, but cookies come out amazingly well with Pam!

  10. Wendy

    I've been wanting to try a savory dish with plantains for a long time, and I think this is the recipe I've been waiting for 🙂 The only thing I've ever done with them until now is making turon - which is a Filipino kinda-sorta banana eggroll. Very excited to try the pastelon!

  11. nicole

    hey erica! luckily i had all the ingredients for this except the olives so tried it out and we looooved it, it is seriously so good! thanks for the recipe, i would have never thought to make basically a plantain lasagna...! and i used pam and it didnt stick like it usually would, i only thought you could use pam for baking so thanks for the suggestion to add it to my cooking!

  12. Meister @ The Nervous Cook

    A casserole or lasagna is a great thing to use PAM with, since it can be so difficult to get off the bakeware! I also use cooking spray whenever I bake Bundt cakes, which has surprisingly been pretty often lately.

  13. anna pry

    i use pam to make waffles without sticking to the waffle iron
    thepryfamily@gmail.com

  15. Marta

    Well, I usually use PAM for my lasagnas, but I definitive want to try the new improve formula. I'm wondering if it has a less strong smell!

  16. Camila

    I love using PAM when I bake cookies!!!

  17. Lea M. Callais

    Love me some Pam!
    I am allergic to tomatoes and gluten intolerant - ugh - I know what a pain. This would be perfect without the tomatoes - do you think I could just make it without the tomatoes - or what would you suggest as an alternative? Thanks!

  18. Heather B

    I LOVE pam, and Use it every day! I especially love that they have an organic olive oil spray. My favorite, however, is using the butter flavored spray to help me make my crepes for a special weekend breakfast!

  19. Lyndsey @ Sit. Stay. Cook.

    PAM is so great. Lately, I love to sous vide flank steak, then give it a spray with PAM before searing it in a cast-iron skillet. So delicious!

  20. momgateway

    I use it when making veggie lasagna!

  21. grace

    what a unique casserole, erica! i don't have nearly enough experience cooking with (or eating) plantains!

  22. Amy Tong

    My favorite dish to make with PAM is my baked meat ball pasta with cheese! Nothing sticks and easy clean up! I love it.

    Amy [at] utry [dot] it

  24. cara

    I love using Pam when I bake! It has never let me down! And I agree with you there is a huge difference between Pam and generic versions!

  25. Kitty

    Oh my goodness. This recipe looks so tasty. Copied it and will make it next time I can find some decent plantains. My husband accidentally bought PAM Olive Oil but I think I prefer that now for saute and frying.

  27. cw

    I love to use pam to make blueberry pancakes.....non stick every time

  28. Karen

    I've been trying to lighten things up and have started using Pam for the last couple of months. I cubed some butternut squash this morning to roast and instead of using olive oil, I sprayed it with Pam.

  29. Jennifer

    This recipe looks delicious! I love ripe plantains, but have never used them in a dish before...only as a side dish. I will definitely try this one out! Love PAM products too...usually use the olive oil one.

  30. Deb Ireland

    I use PAM all the time. It makes cooking and baking a breeze. I've even found that you can spray a little bit on top of baked foods that you want to turn out crispier. I used it last night when I made bread crumb coated zucchini "fries". I was glad to hear the new version has less fat.

  31. Chris

    This is a trick question because every dish I cook on my grill uses Pam because I always use it to keep my cast iron grates in excellent condition. I buy it in 2 and 3 packs!

  32. Carolyn G

    First I have to say that this recipe looks delicious. I am so making this!

    My favorite Pam dish is hashbrown casserole. Pam really helps it not stick

  33. megan

    I love to use Pam on anything that used to stick- cookie sheets , bread and muffin tins, lasagne and roasted veggies. It is great that they are reducing the fat. Keep cooking!!

  34. Jessie C.

    I like making lasagna with Pam.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

  36. Naomi

    Oh, wow- I am totally going to have to try this recipe! I like using PAM on containers before putting leftovers into them so they come out easily. Especially things like spaghetti sauce that stain. Works like a charm...

  37. corrine

    MMMMM can't wait to make sounds so yummy 🙂

  38. anash

    i use it for baking cookies! Thanks for a super giveaway!

  40. Nats

    I always use pam for baking. It's great!

  41. Yami

    I will try this it looks delicious

  42. Devona Fryer

    Thanks for the great recipe! Pam is some really great stuff and doesn't have all those sticking issues that normal butter and oil can mostly have.

  44. Desi

    I use Pam on everything! Casseroles, when I make cookies, and 2 days ago when I made a cake.

  45. Debra F

    An omelet made with Pam cooking spray always comes out perfectly!

  46. Michelle

    I use Pam when I bake muffins and cookies.

  47. Tina M

    My favorite dish to make with PAM is Lasagna

  49. Erika

    Definitely baking a cake!
    chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com

  50. Mindy S

    I use pam to make individual crustless quiches/muffins.

  51. LeeAnn

    Pam is often used with baking. I lived in the Dominican Republic for a couple of years and have made a pastelon similar to this but have forgotten about it. I look forward to trying it again. Or a pastelon with yucca too.

  52. Erica Best

    I love using pam in my stickybuns
    purple_lover_04 at msn dot com

  54. meredith

    yummy recipe!! My favorite dish to make with Pam is my bacon quiche – no stick issues!!!

  56. Viviana

    I made this dish and it was an instant hit with my sons, parents, grandparents, and even a coworker who has asked me to make it for her and some company she's having. I did modify it a bit for my son's tastes as they can be a bit picky. And also for a healthier version of this recipe, I mashed the plantains up and seasoned with some garlic and salt instead of frying them before layering it with the meat and cheese. Still very tasty!

  57. Ris

    I use Pam for a lot of my baked pasta dishes and it is amazing!

  58. Melanie

    I like to use Pam when baking - it makes everything come out of the pan easily!

  59. helga

    i use PAM spray everytime i use a glass baking dish. doesn't matter what i'm baking: lasagna, tortilla casserole, bread pudding, it all comes out clean and perfect. thanks!

  60. Katie

    Roasted veggies - spray with just enough Pam to get the salt & pepper & whatever seasonings you use to stick and roast away. Yummy!

    Either that or Pam for Baking I use all the time making muffins or cakes.

  61. Jammie

    i love using pam when making steaks. sweepmorey at gmail dot com

  63. tara pittman

    enchilldas are my pam dish

  64. Julie

    I use it when making my pizza casserole
    thanks

  65. angie lilly

    I love making Chef Boyardee Pizza kits and it is IMPOSSIBLE to do without Pam! LOL I use it to grease my pizza pans as well as my hands to spread the dough!!

  67. Andrea Friedmann

    It's hard for me to get my kids to eat their veggies, but they love zucchini fritters. I hated all the oil the fritters absorbed, and avoided making them, until I started using PAM on the griddle. The griddle stats clean, the fritters come off easily, and he best part, my kids aren't consuming all that unhealthy oil!

  68. Carina C

    I always use pam when i bake cakes its the best for cakes and sweets. whether its a layered cake or cupcakes. it always gets me out of a jam 🙂

  69. Stephanie

    Just used PAM this weekend when I made my favorite brownie mix (Ghirardelli)!

  70. Sergio Gomez

    You make it look easy and delicious, I'm going to try making it !

  71. Karen

    Since my boys' favorite is simple fried plantains that's my favorite too!

  74. Sarah L

    Tuna casserole. Sticky ugly without PAM.
    Thanks for the contest.

  76. Maria Cantu

    My favorite dish to make using Pam is lasagna.

  77. Kerry

    My favorite thing to make using Pam is brownies!

  79. Helen

    Thank you for the chance to enter this contest. I couldn't imagine not using Pam when I bake something. Eggs and cheese rarely stick at all!

  80. ANGEL JACKLYN

    Peanut butter brownies! Yum!

  82. Carmen

    I use Pam for all my casseroles!

  83. LAMusing

    It works great when I make Bread Pudding

  84. Norma

    I always use PAM when I cook eggs!

  85. Christina Tong

    I use Pam a lot for all my baking/cooking. My favorite dish to make with PAM is Ham, onion & Mushroom Omelets. It tastes good and I can flip it easily without breaking it and not sticking to the pan.

    ctong2[at]gmail[dot]com

  87. ewhatley

    I use Pam for everything - eggs, pasta, meatloaf, baking and on and on.

  88. ACMommy3

    I like PAM spray for my enchilada casserole and oven french toast!

  89. Betty C

    I use Pam any time I am baking something with lots of cheese. Lasagna and enchilidas are a couple I do most often and I think I'm going to have to try your recipe. It looks really good.

  91. Dee

    I always use PAM cooking spray for cornbread muffins and banana bread! 🙂