Many Trinbagonians might argue that Christmas is not Christmas without pastelles. This holiday delicacy is quite easy to make from scratch, but it’s truly a time-consuming hassle. Here, there’s no need for a pastelle press or fig leaves! To save you the stress, we’ve completely deconstructed a pastelle into an easy-to-bake pie that doesn’t skimp on the flavour that you love so dearly.
It’s also budget friendly (and we all know our bank accounts could use a break at this time of the year).
INGREDIENTS
For the filling
1 pound lean ground beef
½ cup green seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pimento, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried fine thyme
¼ cup ketchup
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup olives
3 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons raisins
2 ½ teaspoons salt
For the topping
2 cups BELLINI Harina de Maiz pre-cooked yellow cornmeal
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
1 cup lukewarm water
1 cup warm milk
3 tablespoons coconut oil
½ cup butter, melted
DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2 Grease a 12-inch by 9-inch oven-proof glass or ceramic baking dish and set aside.
3 In a small mixing bowl, mix the beef and green seasoning together.
4 Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
5 Add onions, garlic and pimentos and sauté for 3 minutes or until onions are slightly brown and fragrant.
6 Add beef, scallion and thyme; cook, stirring often, until meat crumbles and is no longer pink, about 7 minutes.
7 Reduce the heat and stir in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
8 Stir in the olives, raisins and salt; set aside.
9 In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the pre-cooked yellow cornmeal with salt and paprika. Thn, add water, coconut oil, butter.
10 Transfer half the cornmeal mixture to the lightly greased dish, pressing down until it’s flat and even. Place the minced beef filling on top of the cornmeal and use the remaining cornmeal mixture to cover the minced beef completely. Press down again.
11 Sprinkle the top with cheese and bake for 45 minutes.
12 Cool for 15 minutes and serve!
