Green plantain patties stuffed with cheese {Tortillas de verde}
Ecuadorian green plantain patties stuffed with cheese, also known as tortillas de verde, made with a dough of green plantains, a cheese filling (or your choice of filling), and cooked on a griddle or frying pan.
Servings 10 -12 green plantain patties
Ingredients
- 5 green plantains
- 2 tablespoons of butter plus more to rub on hands when making the dough
- 2-3 tablespoons of water from cooking the plantains or 1 egg if the dough isn't coming together
- ~ 1 teaspoon of salt
For the plantain patties filling:
- ~1 ½ cup of crumbled quesillo or queso fresco can also use grated mozzarella cheese
- Other filling ideas include: chorizo, chicharrones or fried pork belly, shrimp, beef or pork picadillo, diced cooked shrimp, or any other filling you would like to try – just make sure the fillings are previously cooked (except for the cheese)
Sauces/toppings suggestions:
Instructions
For the green plantain dough:
- Wash and peel the green plantains under running cold water, this helps prevents stain from the plantains.
- Cut four of the plantains in half. Keep the remaining peeled plantain in a bowl of cold water.
- Bring water to boil in a large saucepan and add the 4 plantains. Cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Exact time will vary based on the size and greenness of the plantains.
- Remove from heat and let the cooked plantains sit in the water they cooked in until they are cool enough to handle (but still warm), if you remove them from the warm water they will get too hard.
- In the meantime, grate the remaining raw plantain using a very fine grater.
- Place the cooked plantains in a food processor and pulse until you have a thick coarse mix. Add a couple tablespoons of the water from cooking plantains (or an egg) and butter or oil, and pulse until the ingredients are well mixed and the dough is a little smoother. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash or grate the cooked plantains and then mix them with the egg (lightly whisked) and the butter.
- If using the food processor, remove the plantain mix and place it into a large bowl. Rub your hands with a bit of butter or oil, and mix in the finely grated raw plantain and ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt (adjust based on how large the plantains are and your level of tolerance for salt).
- Use your hands to work the dough until you have a smooth mix. If the dough is very dry or too sticky, you can add a bit of the cooking water from the plantains – you will likely need to this if you didn’t use an egg.
- You can also rub your hands with a drizzle of oil to help working the dough.
To make the green plantain patties
- Shape the plantain dough into several small size balls. If the dough is still sticking to your hands, you can drizzle some oil on your hands.
- Make a hole in the middle of each plantain dough ball and fill it with the cheese or your choice of filling.
- Carefully shape the dough into thick patties with the cheese in the center. The plantain patties can be cooked immediately or you can keep them in the refrigerator until ready to cook them. They can be made 24 hours in advance. Just bring them to room temperature before cooking them.
- Cook the plantain stuffed patties on a lightly greased hot griddle or in a frying pan with a small amount of oil, until golden on each side.
- Serve the tortillas de verde or green plantain patties warm with your choice of toppings or sauces.