Cheese-crusted ripe plantain balls that are crispy on the outside, sweet on the inside, and oozing with melted cheese? Do I have your attention? There's no way anyone can resist these mouthwatering bolitas de plátano maduro inspired by everything we love in our cuisine.
By - Reviewed: . Original: Sep 14, 2011
Why we ❤️ it
Welcome to my latest obsession: ripe plantains and finger food. These incredible, gluten-free, egg-free, non-fried, cheese-crusted ripe plantain balls filled with melted cheese, are simply amazing. A sweet and savory plantain mixture, and a crispy outer layer are simply amazing is one of my favorite ways to serve ripe plantains.
And you'll ask yourself how you have lived so far without them.
Inspiration
While these are not a traditional Dominican dish, I had some ripe plantains left when I made piononos, and decided to see what I could do with them. Easy, relatively healthy (read: "no deep-frying") great finger foods to treat guests.
Because being obsessed with many things (including ripe plantains and finger food) means no time to sit and eat.
Cheese and ripe plantain balls.
How to serve
These yellow plantain balls are fantastic as picadera, snack, or to serve guests at your Dominican cookout. You can add more of our appetizer recipes to your platter, like quipe, tarticos, pastelitos, and - if you want to serve more ripe plantain dishes, go with these air fryer piononos or mofonguitos de plátanos maduros.
Top tips
- Use plantains that are ripe but firm.
- How many balls you get depends on the size of the plantains you use.
- Make sure to use hard (dry) mozzarella; the fresh type in brine will break the balls in the baking.
- You can prepare them beforehand, keep frozen, and bake them just before serving.
- I didn't find it necessary to add salt, as the parmesan is already salty.
About this recipe
These bolitas de plátano are simply amazing! This was a pretty good result for my experiment and would fool anyone into thinking that it is a traditional Dominican dish. We'd love everything about it.
A crusty shell, sweet, creamy plantain, and a melted cheese center that will have everyone fall in love with them.
Video
Recipe
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Cheese and Ripe Plantain Balls [Video+Recipe] Bolitas de Plátano Maduro
Ingredients
- 3 plantain , (ripe, yellow) (see notes)
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, for greasing hands
- 1 cup hard mozzarella, diced [0.34 kg]
- ½ cup ground Parmesan or Pecorino
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, (salted) at room temperature, to grease tray
Instructions
1. Cooking plantains
Cook in the microwave unpeeled for 4 minutes. Remove the peel (careful not to burn yourself). Remove the center of the plantain (looks like a nerve) and mash until there are no lumps. Cool to room temperature.
2. Making balls
- Grease your hands with the oil. Make small balls (about a tablespoon of plantain puree). Poke a hollow in the ball and put a piece of mozzarella in it. Form a ball around it. Repeat until you finish with all the mashed plantains. Resist eating them now.
3. Covering with Parmesan
- Cover with Parmesan or Pecorino, making as thick a layer as you can. Place the balls on a greased tray and freeze hard (about 4 hours).
4. Baking
- Bake in preheated oven to 400 ºF [200 ºC] for 15 mins, or until they are golden brown outside and remove from the oven.
5. Serving
- Serve warm.
Cook's Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
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More ripe plantain recipes
We have a lot of plantain recipes, but ripe plantain recipes are firm favorites, with the natural sweetness of plantains that complement savory flavors so well. You can't miss the simplest, fried sweet plantains my favorite side dish, or pastelón de plátano maduro filled with ground beef and cheese, and our plátano al caldero, or its lighter version, plátano asado.
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