Easy Pastele Stew Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken pastele stew? ›

Finely grate the banana and add it to the stew. This will act as a thickener.

Start with leaner meat.

For a rich, succulent stew, resist the instinct to buy the gorgeously marbled piece of meat you would want for a steak or roast. Look instead for cuts with cartilage, tendons and (at least a few) bones: Chuck, brisket, oxtails, cheeks and shin are ideal.

Paprika. Use regular or hot paprika if you want a little warmth and Smoked Paprika if you're after more of a barbeque style smoky flavour. Chilli and paprika work well with tomato based dishes where as herbs work best with gravy based stews.

The flour helps to thicken a stew as it cooks. Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil.

Potato starch naturally thickens soups and stews and can be a gluten-free option if you're looking to make a gluten-free stew. Add cubed potatoes to the stew to absorb excess liquid, or add potato flakes, mashed potatoes, or a potato purée to thicken your stew.

To cook them, bring a large pot (or a few pots) of salted water to a boil and add the pasteles, either fresh or frozen, in a single layer. Let cook for 1 hour, or an hour and 10 minutes or so if they are frozen. Repeat with the remaining pasteles, then unwrap and serve right away.

Simmering the potatoes will contribute all the starch the stew needs, and it'll be plenty thick.

Pastele Stew is a traditional Puerto Rican dish that bears some resemblance to tamales. This is because pasteles, which are very labor intensive to make, often look like tamales and are made of a masa, which is typically a mixture of grated green banana, green plantain, white yautia, potato or tropical pumpkins.

There are flavors in tomatoes that are alcohol-soluble, so adding red wine along with tomato paste also helps to enhance beef stew." Laurence has a few other tricks I've borrowed to create the best beef stew, including adding Worcestershire, which gets a serious umami punch from anchovies.

Why put tomato paste in beef stew? ›

A bit of tomato paste amps up the flavor of beef stew, giving it a richness and a punch of umami that makes the stew truly memorable.

The Ideal Stew Ratio: Two Parts Meat, One Part Vegetable

Most meat-based stews call for tough, inexpensive cuts of meat, while vegetarian recipes include the same onions, carrots, and celery typical of a beef stew. Two parts meat to one part vegetables is the perfect ratio for a meaty stew.

Although I added carrots, little red potatoes, rutabaga and cremini mushrooms, you have plenty of options. Parsnip, turnip, pearl onions, squash and fennel will also work. Stir them in gently and immediately return the pot to the oven for the final hour of cooking.

Don't Rush the Stewing of the Stew

Your beef stew needs at least two hours, sometimes three, on a low burner, so the meat is tender, and the flavors mingle. This isn't a dish to rush; it's a dish to make on a lazy weekend so you can enjoy the smell as it stews.

Simply knead equal parts softened butter and flour together in a bowl with your fingers until well-combined (beurre manié literally means “kneaded butter”) and then roll into small bits. Add the bits gradually to your stew, whisking until it noticeably thickens.

A slurry is a mixture of flour and water, whisked together until smooth and added towards the end of cooking; it's a super-simple way to thicken any soup. For slow cooker soups, add your slurry with at least 30 minutes of cook time left so that the raw flour can cook and thicken the soup. Need a gluten-free option?

Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. When a gravy, sauce, soup or stew recipe calls for flour, use half as much cornstarch to thicken. To thicken hot liquids, first mix cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth. Gradually stir into hot liquid until blended.