Cuban Shepherd’s Pie


Cuban Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- Picadillo (Ground Beef):
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
- 1½ pounds lean ground beef, 90-10% or 93%-7%
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 10 whole pitted green olives, I prefer Castelvetrano, cut in half
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- handful fresh cilantro, chopped
- Sweet Plantain Mash:
- 8 ripe or semi-ripe plantains
- 1 lime, juiced and divided
- 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup reserved boiling water from sweet plantains
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Picadillo (Ground Beef):
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and cook the onion and bell pepper until soft (about 4-5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 20-30 seconds. Mix in the ground beef and stir. Add bay leaf, cumin, salt, and pepper; drain off excess grease. Return meat to pan.
- Add the tomato sauce, sugar, and wine. Cover and continue cooking over medium-low heat (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally. If the sauce thickens too much, you can add a little bit of water.
- Add capers and olives and mix well. Taste and adjust any salt and pepper, if needed. Remove from heat.
- Place picadillo into an oven-proof baking pan. Transfer the entire pan to the refrigerator and chill 2-3 hours or place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Sweet Plantain Mash:
- Bring water to a boil (filled a third of the way up) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Trim each end from plantain and cut in half. Add plantains, 1 teaspoon salt, and juice from ½ a lime to boiling water; cover and cook until tender, about 25-30 minutes.
- Drain plantains thoroughly (reserving ½ cup water) and steam dry 5-10 minutes.
- In the same pan used to cook the plantains, heat oil on low heat. Add garlic and infused oil 1½ – 2 minutes, making sure garlic does not brown. Set aside until ready to use.
- Peel the skin off when cool enough to handle and add plantains to the pan with the infused garlic. Mash to desired consistency, add remaining lime juice, ½ teaspoon salt, black pepper, and reserved water; mix until combined.
- To Assemble Pie:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Remove pan from freezer. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the picadillo, and spread sweet plantain mash over the meat and cilantro. Use a fork to rake over the surface. Sprinkle with parmesan, drizzle with butter. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!