Recipe: Vegan Pastelón aka Lasagna's Vegan Cousin

It started with some left over cashew parmesan and tomato purée that I had left over from pizza night. I decided to extend the Italian theme and try my hand at a plant-based lasagna. When I did some research to see if anyone has ever attempted to make lasagna with plantains instead of pasta, I found a Puerto Rican dish called Pastelón. So I found myself with a dish inspired by two different cultures. Here's how i did it (warning, no measurements were used here):

I soaked half a bowl of kidney beans and black-eyed peas for 2 hours.

I finely chopped onions, thyme, green onions, rosemary, cilantro, basil, garlic, bell peppers and crushed pimento.

I added half a scotch bonnet pepper, which I later removed from the pot and added to my cashew ricotta 'cheese'.

Everything in the pot, I added enough water to cover all the ingredients (including whole grape tomatoes). I put the pot on high, testing the beans every half an hour and reducing the heat and adding water as needed. When the beans cooked, I added cumin, pink himalayan salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper, letting the pot simmer.

I added my tomato purée to the pot and let it simmer on medium heat until the oils started forming on top.

I reduced the stove to low heat while I cut my ripe plantains thinly at their full length.

Now the fun part, layering. I started with beans, then raw plantains (to avoid added oil content that comes with frying), I added my vegan ricotta, a layer of bok choy, beans, plantain, then beans and ricotta again, topping it all off with my cashew parmesan.

Ta-da!

Ready for the oven. I baked it covered with foil at first, then realized the plantains were not cooking as quickly as I expected. So I uncovered it and turned up the heat a bit until the plantains started to brown. I don't recommend leaving the foil off for too long because you risk drying out your beans.

There you go! Ready to eat.

I enjoyed this one a lot! If you try it, share your experience with me in the comments!