This is the basic meat filling to use with the stuffed plantains. It can also be used with stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage etc. The recipe calls for ground beef but you can also add ground sausage to the mix if you wish.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground beef (or ground pork)

3 chili peppers, finely chopped and seeded (any type of pepper you want is fine)

1 green pepper, finely chopped and seeded

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon wine vinegar

6 green olives stuffed with pimentos

1 teaspoon capers

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

hot sauce to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a heavy pot, add 1 tablespoon oil and saute chili peppers, onion, green pepper and garlic for 10 minutes.

2. Add oregano, salt, vinegar and ground beef. Stir over high heat until meat loses its red color.

3. Turn heat to low. Add olives, capers and hot sauce. Mix and cook 30 minutes for beef or 1 hour for pork.

4. Let cool slightly so it won’t be too hot to handle when stuffing the plantains or other item.