A lasagna with no pasta in it. Strips of ripe plantain, cut lengthwise and fried, take the place of the sheets, layered with a beef and tomato sauce and a good deal of cheese, then baked until the top browns.
Sweet against savoury, and gluten-free without anyone having adapted anything.
Cut the plantains lengthwise
This is the instruction the whole dish depends on, and it is easy to get backwards.
Peel the plantain and run the knife down its full length, giving four or five long wide strips. Those strips are the lasagna sheets: they need to be big enough to cover the base of the dish and thin enough to layer.
Cut across into rounds and you have small discs that will not tile, will not hold a layer of filling, and turn the dish into a bake rather than a lasagna. There is no recovering from it once the plantain is cut.
Fry them before they go in
The strips get fried in a little oil before assembly, and skipping it causes two separate problems.
Water. Ripe plantain holds a lot of moisture and releases it in the oven. Raw strips leave a lasagna sitting in liquid, with the bottom layer swimming.
Sweetness. Frying caramelises the sugars at the surface. That caramelisation is where the sweet note comes from, and it is the whole reason this works against beef and tomato. Baked from raw, the plantain is merely soft.
Ripe means dark
Dark or nearly black skin. A yellow-firm plantain is still mostly starch and tastes closer to a potato, which leaves you with a beef and potato bake and no contrast at all.
The sweetness is not incidental here. It is the reason the dish exists.
Gluten-free without trying
Worth stating because it is genuinely useful and the recipe never mentions it. There is no pasta, no flour and no breadcrumb anywhere in this: the layers are plantain, beef, tomato and cheese.
The single thing to check is the jarred Bolognese sauce, since some brands use wheat as a thickener. Read the label, or make the tomato sauce yourself, and the dish is safe as written.
This is not a gluten-free adaptation of an Italian lasagna. It is a Colombian dish that happens to have been built that way from the start.
Building it
Plantain, cheese, beef in its sauce, cheese, and repeat. Finish with a thick layer of cheese, which is what browns.
The two cheeses are not interchangeable in every position. Mozzarella melts and binds, so it belongs between the layers. Parmesan browns and crisps, so it belongs on top. If you only have one, mozzarella inside and out is the safer choice.
Twenty minutes at 180°C is about right, until the surface is browned and bubbling.
Let it rest before cutting
Five to ten minutes out of the oven, exactly as with a pasta lasagna. Straight from the dish the cheese is still liquid and the layers slide apart the moment a knife goes in.
It also cuts better the next day, and reheats well, which is not true of most plantain dishes.
More ripe plantain
- Plantain canoes with beef — the same pairing, split and filled.
- Aborrajados — fried and stuffed with cheese.
- Plantain empanadas — plantain as the dough.
Plantain Lasagna FAQ
Lengthwise, into long thin strips, so each one works as a lasagna sheet. Peel the plantain and run the knife down its length, giving you four or five wide strips per plantain. Cutting across into rounds gives you small discs that cannot be layered.
Yes, as written. There is no pasta and no flour anywhere: the layers are plantain, beef, tomato and cheese. The only thing to check is the jarred Bolognese sauce, since some brands contain wheat. Nothing else in the recipe needs substituting.
Two reasons. It drives off moisture, and plantain releases a lot of water as it bakes, which would otherwise leave the lasagna sitting in liquid. And it caramelises the sugars at the surface, which is where the sweetness that plays against the beef comes from.
Well ripened, with dark skin. The point of this dish is the contrast between sweet plantain and savoury beef, and a yellow-firm plantain is still starchy: it tastes closer to a potato and the whole thing falls flat. Black-skinned looks alarming and is correct.
They do different jobs. Mozzarella melts and holds the layers together, so it is the better choice inside. Parmesan browns and crisps, which is what you want on top. Using mozzarella in the layers and parmesan on the surface gets you both.
It was cut too soon. Like any lasagna, this needs five to ten minutes out of the oven for the cheese to set and the layers to settle. Straight from the oven the whole thing slides. It also cuts more cleanly the next day, reheated.
📖 Recipe
Sweet Plantain Lasagna (Lasaña de Plátano Maduro)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
- 3 large ripe plantains (the skin should be dark; these replace the pasta sheets)
- 500 g ground beef (about 1 lb)
- ¼ cup Bolognese sauce (or any tomato pasta sauce)
- 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
- 250 g mozzarella or parmesan, for the layers and the top (about 9 oz; mozzarella melts, parmesan browns. A mix of both works well)
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- A pinch of oregano
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Notas
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Over medium-high heat, fry the garlic and chopped onion, then add the tomato and stir for 3 minutes. Add the ground beef, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring.
- When the beef is about half cooked, add the Bolognese sauce and let it finish for another 4 minutes.
- Separately, cut the plantains lengthwise into long, thin strips, so they are wide enough to act as lasagna sheets. Fry them in a pan with a splash of oil.
- To assemble, use an oven dish: a layer of plantain strips on the base, then cheese, then the beef in its sauce, then cheese again, and repeat until everything is used. Finish with a thick layer of cheese on top.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) until the top is completely browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes.
- Serve with bread or a salad.
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