Kimberley Gonzalez Where I’m From

Where I’m from, we eat piñón. Piñón is a Puerto Rican version of lasagna. It consists of plantains, ground turkey, and french style green beans. We only eat this dish on special occasions in the states. In Puerto Rico, you can find someone cooking this dish every day. My mother usually prepares this dish but I can make it as well. The main ingredient in this dish is plantains. You have to slice the plantains from top to bottom and fry them until they are crispy on both sides. The ground turkey is cooked in a separately and seasoned to taste.  You add the green beans to the ground turkey when it is done. When the ground turkey and plantains are done they are set aside as you prepare your dish of choice for the piñón. You set the ingredients in the dish the same way as you would for lasagna.  First, plantains are placed down overlapping each other so that the other ingredients won’t escape.  Then you add the cooked ground turkey. You then add another layer of plantains and so on. You then bake it for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.While being prepared, the sweet aroma from the plantains overwhelms the kitchen and neighboring rooms. Piñón is a very balanced dish since you have the sweet plantain and meat with green beans. Eating piñón makes me very happy because I only eat it on special occasions. My best memory of eating this dish is the first time I prepared it. It was perfect in every aspect. My family was also very satisfied with the dish.