ingredients

Stuffing:
2 pounds diced pork
1 small onion
2 tablespoons Recaito Goya
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon adobo
1 tablespoon oregano (dry flakes)
2 bay leaves
1 cup olives with pimientos

Masa/Dough:
4 pounds yautia
6 green bananas
2 plantains
3 potatoes
1/4 slice of pumpkin
1 tablespoon salt
achiote oil

Wrapping:
20 banana leaves (cut into approx. 10 in. X 5 in rectangles) wash
and dry them.
20 pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil (cut approx. 8 in X 4 in
rectangles)

 
PASTELES/BANANA STUFFED MEAT PASTRIES
Courtesy of Miriam Santiago

"Pasteles are made specifically for Thanksgiving and Christmas,
they are a lot of work, but oh so worth it."
   
Method

Part 1 - make the stuffing

1. Brown the pork in a pan.
2. Add the rest of the the stuffing ingredients.
3. Cook until the pork is no longer pink inside.
4. Set aside and let it cool.

Part 2 - Make the Masa

1. In a large bowl, peel and grate the yautia and the green
bananas, plantains, potatoes and pumpkin together.
2. Stir in the sale and enough achiote oil to moisten the dough
and add a little color. You are now ready to assemble and wrap
the pasteles

Part 3 - Wrap the Pasteles

1. Set the dough aside and prepare a work surface to assemble
and wrap the pasteles.
2. Assembling: take a piece of foil, place about 1 1/2 to 2
tablespoons full of masa onto the oil in the center of the
banana leaf, flatten and spread out the dough evenly, but do
not g o over the edge of the leaf, place one spoon full of meat
filling in the center of the dough, place one more spoonful of
the masa on top of the meat filling and spread the masa
evenly to cover the filling.

Folding the Pasteles as follows:

3. Horizontally bring the top edge and bottom edge of the foil up so that the edges meet evenly over the top of the pastele. Fold or roll down the edges, forming a horizontal seam, fold up the ends of the foil and flip the wrapped pastel.
4. Set aside the pasteles you are going to eat right away and you can freeze the rest.

Part 4 - Cook the Pasteles

1. Bring a stock pot of salted water to a boil, there should be enough water to cover the pasteles.
2. Boil the pasteles for 1 hour, let them rest in the pot for a few minutes before unwrapping them.
3. Unwrap the pasteles before serving.