Just before I realize which of my personas is going to rule my day today (the healthnut triathlete, the aspiring burlesque dancer, the consummated chef, etc...) I must take care of the everyday stuff such as what am I feeding the fam today. It is hard to satisfy the pallates of husband, teenagers and toddler all in the same dish, at the same time attending to dietary preferences, a pseudo kosher preference, calories, yumminess factor and other details such as shape, color, temperature, and other quirks of my deard beloveds (is that even a word?). Since this is the week of preparing for our caribbean trip, I guess I will carry that theme into our culinary doings of this week (more mine than our...).
This is a mashup of the classic dominican recipe "Pastelon de Harina de Maiz" and italian polenta. I have always toyed of the idea of fusion. Let's see how it goes.
Time: 50 Mins
Difficulty: Medium
Serve: 6 people
Before you start to cook: Butter up a baking baking pan. Heat up the oven to 350 °F.
Ingredients:
- A not too firm polenta, made with two cups of corn meal, or two one-pound packages of polenta
~ Filling
- 1/4 lb. of ground beef
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 small red onion, diced into small cubes
- 1 green pepper, diced into small cubes
- Ground pepper
- Oregano, thyme
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- You can also add boiled eggs, raisins, pine nuts, scallions, chives, etc.
- 2 cups of fresh tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 cup of water
- Salt
- Oregano
Preparation:
- Mix in meat, onion, pepper, bell pepper, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. In a shallow pan heat oil. Add the ground beef and stir so it cooks uniformly. Add two tablespoons of water and the tomato paste. Let simmer at medium heat. Adjust water when necessary. When the meat is ready let all the liquid evaporate, adjust salt to taste. Turn off the heat and reserve.
- To prepare the tomato sauce heat oil and sautee ingredients. Simmer over low heat until you obtain a thick (chunky) sauce. Add water if necessary. Reserve
- Once the polenta is ready, spread it out about a finger thick
- Cover it with 1/2 of the cheese, add the meat. Add the remaining cheese and top with the remaining corn. Add another layer of polenta followed by cheese and meat. Cover with one last layer of Polenta. Put in the oven for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool down almost at room temperature before taking out of the mold.
- Cover with the tomato sauce before serving.
