Sweet + Savory Stuffed Fried Plantains

Plantains are delicious. There are so many different ways to prep plantains--depending on what culture you're coming from, you probably have your own preference for how plantains "should" be. I (D) grew up eating extremely ripe, fried, gooey ones--so that is how I like to prepare them. Plantains are great just plain by themselves, but they are also easy to spruce up. Instead of having them plain, I decided to stuff them, going savory with one and sweet with the other. For the savory one, I used spinach filling (of course) and for the sweet dessert-like one, I used strawberry preserves + brie. Even though the sweet one was spinachless, it was also pretty good. Stuffed plantains are an interesting appetizer/finger food idea if you're having a gathering, and it's nice to offer both sweet and savory versions for different tastes!

You Will Need:

1. Large handful (1-2 cups) baby spinach

2. Softened brie cheese (which you can substitute with either cream cheese or mascarpone)

3. Pinch of minced garlic (less than 1/4 tsp. will do)

4. Juice of half a lemon

5. A couple of slices of butter

6. Two ripe plantains (the blacker, the better--even if the plantain is entirely black, it's still good)

7. About 1-2 tbs. strawberry preserves (or jelly/jam/preserves of choice)

First, peel your plantains. The easiest way to do this is to cut off the two ends, slice the peel down the entire banana and then just peel off in one piece. When peeled, slice the meat of the plantain down its entire length so that the plantain opens flat.

Oil your pan with a thick layer of light veggie oil (I used canola). Let heat on medium and fry plantains in hot oil for a few minutes on either side or until a crisp brown. If you like the plantains more crispy, leave them frying a bit longer until the surface blackens a bit.

For the savory spinach filling, add butter to a frying pan on medium heat. Add in the garlic and let cook until golden. Then add in the spinach leaves and lemon juice. Stir the leaves around until fully cooked + wilted.

When your spinach + plantains are done cooking, it's time to stuff! Open up the plantains so they are fairly flat. Top one with the spinach. For the sweet plantain, spread on a layer of brie cheese and then a layer of strawberry preserves over the brie. Fold over/close the plantains a bit (like a book) to keep in the stuffing. Once stuffed, cut up the plantains into small finger-food size pieces to serve.

And most importantly, enjoy!

- A + D