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Food is an integral part of our family celebrations, and many of my Christmas memories include spending time together at the dinner table over freshly prepared dishes, distinctive to our culture. One of my father’s favorite dishes to make was Pasteles, also known as Puerto Rican tamales. Tamales are an important part of any celebration in the Latin culture, and most notably during Christmas and Las Posadas. Las Posadas is a nine day celebration which begins on December 16th and culminates on Christmas Eve, also known as Nochebuena. The 9 days are symbolic of the nine months of Mary was pregnant signifying the religious sentiment to this celebration. Observation of Las Posadas varies and can include celebrations held at various homes throughout the 9-day time period with traditional food and drink, cultural songs, and piñatas for the children.
In Puerto Rico, we don’t technically celebrate Las Posadas, but rather Parrandas, where friends and family gather together to sing traditional songs. The group typically travels from house and the number celebrating grows throughout the evening. My friend Melanie over at Modern Mami has an awesome article detailing this Puerto Rican tradition.
Regardless of the celebration, the evening always culminates with a traditional meal. In Puerto Rican culture, that can include roast pork, arroz con gandules, plátanos, pasteles, arroz con dulce, tembleque, and coquito. Last week, I showed you how to Host a Tamalada and today I’m going to show you how to make my father’s pasteles recipe. Pasteles are traditionally made using mashed green bananas for the masa (dough), then filled with meat and wrapped in banana leaves. The process is lengthy, but the end result is so worth it. Plus, you’ll be making enough to freeze and enjoy through the season! Much like traditional tamales, everyone has their own unique recipe and the one I’m sharing today was the one my father made each year growing up.
There are multiple steps to this process, so I’ll first share the recipes you’ll need for the masa (dough), sofrito, and filling and then talk about the assembly process. Plan to spend the greater part of the day preparing these pasteles or you can make the masa the day before and refrigerate it overnight.
One thing to note…my father always used sofrito to season dishes, particularly meat and in some ways it resembles a Mirepoix. The recipe below makes much more than you’ll need for these pasteles so go ahead and freeze the leftover in ice trays for use in soups, marinades etc.
- 1 lb . chicken chopped in small pieces
- 2 tablespoons "achiote" oil
- 3 tablespoons Sofrito
- 4 small sweet peppers chopped
- 1 8 oz . can of tomato sauce
- ½ can garbanzo beans chopped
- ½ cup Spanish Olives chopped
- 1 6 oz . can chopped pimentos
-
Heat the oil in a large pan or dutch oven and cook the meat for about 5-8 minutes over medium heat
-
Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for approximately 25 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked
-
Allow to cool
- 1 lb . chicken chopped in small pieces
- 2 tablespoons "achiote" oil
- 3 tablespoons Sofrito
- 4 small sweet peppers chopped
- 1 8 oz . can of tomato sauce
- ½ can garbanzo beans chopped
- ½ cup Spanish Olives chopped
- 1 6 oz . can chopped pimentos
-
Heat the oil in a large pan or dutch oven and cook the meat for about 5-8 minutes over medium heat
-
Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for approximately 25 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked
-
Allow to cool
- 1 lb . chicken chopped in small pieces
- 2 tablespoons "achiote" oil
- 3 tablespoons Sofrito
- 4 small sweet peppers chopped
- 1 8 oz . can of tomato sauce
- ½ can garbanzo beans chopped
- ½ cup Spanish Olives chopped
- 1 6 oz . can chopped pimentos
-
Heat the oil in a large pan or dutch oven and cook the meat for about 5-8 minutes over medium heat
-
Add the remaining ingredients and cook on low for approximately 25 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked
-
Allow to cool
Assembly (Here is what you’ll need):
- Banana leaves
- Parchment paper
- ½ cup achiote oil to grease the banana leaves
- String to tie pasteles
I highly recommend involving the entire family in the assembly process. This is what we did in our family and it makes for festive conversation and bonding (and you can eat that much quicker!). Just be sure to line your table with a plastic table cloth for easy clean up.
- Wash leaves with a damp cloth and cut into 8-10 inch square sections.
- Grease center of the banana leaf using the back of a spoon dipped in achiote oil.
- In the center of the wrapper, spoon ½ cup of masa and thinly spread it around the center section, but avoid spreading it all the way to the edges.
- Spoon 2½ tablespoons of meat filling on the masa.
- Fold the banana leaf in half to close the pastel.
- Fold the edges over until completely sealed and use parchment paper to wrap.
- Tie the pastel with string in both directions to hold it together. This will hold the banana leaves secure while cooking.
How to Cook Pasteles:
- Cook the pasteles in a large pot of boiling water for 1 hour. Be sure to turn them once after 30 minutes.
- Cool slightly then open by cutting the string, opening the parchment paper, and peeling away the banana leaf.
- Serve with arroz con gandules. You can also top with hot sauce if desired.
You’ll likely have extras so you can freeze those, then cook them when you’re ready!
We had so much fun making my father’s pasteles recipe and the finished dish was so worth the time we spent preparing them.
Do you have special dishes or customs you follow during the holidays? I’d love to share them below!
**Most ingredients can be found at your local Walmart Supercenter**
Images: Rockin’ Mama
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