Venezuelan Sweet Fried Plantain Bake with Spanish Chorizo. This delicious and quite unique dish is made of layers of sweet fried plantain with tangy sour white cheese and crispy Spanish chorizo chards, baked until a gooey sweet cheese has formed that contrast with crispy smoked chorizo bites, perfect as a side little dish to any main meal.
I know this is quite a unique and completely different recipe to have as a side dish, some might think quite heavy too, but, and this is a big BUT, aren’t we all tired of ALWAYS having the same things as side dish? Potatoes, rice, noodles and veggies are what we always have as side dishes, and no matter how we cook them they will always be potatoes, rice, noodles and veggies, boring!!
The sweet and savoury combination might sound strange, but let me tell you every time I make it this sweet fried plantain bake for friends I always have to make twice the amount because they all come back for more. The flavour combination is so addictive yet so unexpected you’ll have serious eyebrow pulling at the dinner table.
This recipe is a nice little different dish to have as your meal accompaniment, plus you can make it in advance and bake it last minute to serve it hot with all that gooey melted cheese, sweet fried plantain and crispy chorizo nom nom nom.
If you’ve never cooked sweet fried plantain before or are unsure what plantain to use, check out the blog post I did of How to Make Sweet Fried Plantain. In there I show step by step how to fry plantain, how to peel a plantain and which plantain to use and why. Plus I go through a whole guide on plantains.
PRINT THE RECIPE
This delicious and quite unique dish is made of layers of sweet fried plantain with tangy sour white cheese and crispy Spanish chorizo chards, baked until a gooey sweet cheese has formed that contrast with crispy smoked chorizo bites, perfect as a side little dish to any main meal.
- 3 small Ripe plantains Or 2 large ones
- 100 gr White cheese Feta cheese, Provolone, Mozarella for pizza or any white cheese that melts easily
- 4 tsp Brown or Moscavado sugar
- 60 gr Spanish Chorizo You can also use spicy or smoked
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This recipe is for a 12 x 23 cm baking tray. If you're making it in a bigger tray double or triple the quantity of each ingredient.
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So the first thing is to slice the chorizo is strips, you can also use spicy or smoked chorizo if you like.
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Once the chorizo is chopped add it to a hot pan with no fat and let it crisp up, this should take about 5 minutes. Once done put it on kitchen paper to absorb the extra fat. I also like to tap it twice with more kitchen paper to absorb as much fat as possible.
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With your fingers butter a baking tray to avoid sticking and start to form the layers placing one layer of fried plantain then a layer of chorizo and a layer of the cheese. Add a tsp of sugar in between each layer, this with the melted cheese will make a cheesy sweet syrup.
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Repeat the steps until you’ve reached the top of the tray.
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For the last layer I like to put the chorizo in between 2 layers of cheese so when baked it goes black and ultra crispy.
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Once baked the top of the bake should have melted crispy cheese, if not you can put it a few minutes under the grill.
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Slice, serve hot and enjoy!
To watch the video recipe CLICK HERE
For more video recipes, please go to Mi Terruño Food Cooking Channel
THE VENEZUELAN CONNECTION
One of the key aspects of Venezuelan food is that we combine sweet and savoury flavours in every dish we do. I hadn’t actually realise it until a Spanish friend pointed it out one time she went to Venezuela, and thinking about it, yes – she was right, we do mix sweet and savoury flavours in almost every dish we make.
The reason or origin of this I don’t know but I love it! And this sweet fried plantain bake is a true proof of this. Although the original creole recipe leaves out the Spanish Chorizo for obvious reasons, I thought it would lift up the dish adding an extra layer of flavour and texture, and it is delicious!
If you have a vegetarian diet that by all means leave the chorizo, and if you have a vegan diet you can do what I did and substitute the cheese for a vegan white cheese. Nowadays vegan cheeses are really coming to their own right with delicious flavours and textures.
SWEET FRIED PLANTAIN BAKE – WHAT CHEESE TO USE
If you watched the video you probably saw the cheese I used didn’t melt, and that is because I used a vegan alternative to cheese because I’m lactose intolerant, and as I’m eating this bake, I had to make it with something I could eat.
But if you don’t have this problem I recommend using any white cheese preferably with a tangy sour flavour as this will make an even more delicious contrast with the plantain and chorizo.
Something like Wensleydale or Cheshire if you’re in the UK, Feta cheese and Halloumi are also good, although try to get a Halloumi with reduce salt. If you can’t get any of these you can use Provolone or Mozzarella for pizza, but bear in mind these cheeses although melt really well they are quite bland. Or choose any cheese with the above description that you can easily find where you live.
For vegan options I used a Greek Style Salad Cheese form the brand Sheese, and for the top I used a new Grated Mozarella type cheese from Tesco’s Free From range.
MORE PLANTAIN RECIPE
Plantain is one of my favourite Venezuelan ingredients, we have so many recipe that I could make an entire book of it, whether ripe or green.
Is a shame that most people haven’t tried this incredible and delicious ingredient, I guess not everyone has plantain as a staple food, but, if you’re excited as I am about plantain and want to learn how to make other recipes, check out my recipe How to Make Plantain Chips at Home in Less than 30 Minutes and Venezuelan Plantain Balls .
Some people might feel uneasy when you offer them plantain because they won’t know how to take it, as a banana or as something else, but I live in the UK and if I can get people here to eat plantain and love it, then is definitely something you need to try!!
I really hope you enjoy making this Venezuelan Sweet Fried Plantain Bake with Spansh Chorizo recipe. If you made it come back rate it and leave your comments!
See you next week with another delicious recipe.
HAPPY COOKING 🙂
