These sweet plantains are baked in the oven and then stuffed with a savory turkey picadillo filling and topped with cheese – pretty hard to resist!
Turkey Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Plantains
Similar to a Puerto Rican Pastelón which is really more of a plantain lasagna, instead these are made as individual boats which are easy to make, filling and perfect as a main dish.
If you’re not very familiar with plantains, they are similar to bananas only they need to be cooked. Green plantains are usually meant for salty chips or tostones, but when the plantains are very ripe, almost black, that’s when they are at their sweetest! That’s what you want here, not yellow because they won’t be sweet and soft enough. They should be soft and the skin almost black (see photo below in the directions).
The recipe calls for 6, but as you see here I made the full amount of picadillo and only baked two, and froze the meat for another day. So if you are worried this makes too much, you can easily make what you need and freeze the rest. Hope you enjoy!
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Turkey Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Plantains
Ingredients
- 6 medium ripe plantains, peeled
- 12 tbsp shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- fresh cilantro, for garnish
For the Turkey Picadillo:
- 10 oz 93% lean ground turkey
- 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 medium tomato, chopped
- 1/4 cup bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro
- 2 oz tomato sauce
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp alcaparrado, capers or green olives would work too
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut a slit lengthwise through the length of the plantain about halfway through. Place them on a baking dish and bake covered with foil until soft, about 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, brown the ground turkey on medium heat in large sauté pan and season with salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces.
- Add the chopped onions, garlic, pepper, tomato and cilantro and continue cooking on a low heat.
- Add alcaparrado (or olives and capers) and about 2 tbsp of the brine (this adds great flavor) cumin, oregano, bay leaves, and more salt if needed.
- Add tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of water and mix well.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer covered about 15 minutes.
- Remove the plantains from the oven and fill them with 1/3 cup each of picadillo, then top each with 2 tbsp cheese.
- Return to the oven and bake until melted, about 5 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve immediately.
Last Step:
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