Cheesy Baked Plantains with Chilli – Sierra Leone Flavours
The West African in me has been thinking about new ways of how to cook plantains for a very long time. I usually make fried plantains but baked plantains are getting on my radar more and more.. And what to use to add flavour? Well we all know that good cheese complements sweet flavours (think cheese and chutney), so it should go well with these easy baked plantains. I mean, who would not love some baked ripe plantain stuffed to the brim with warm melty cheese and a drizzle of chilli sauce? You get it right?
So the arrival of some Barber’s 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar, just after I’d visited Brixton market and had half a dozen ripe plantains sitting in my kitchen, was just what I needed to get baking. And they were pretty easy to make too. I simply peeled the plantain and baked them for about 40 mins before stuffing them full of cheese and chilli. Since then, I have made variations stuffed with guacamole or West African stew too. It is all good folks.
At the last African themed dinner party that I hosted, I served two cheesy baked plantains per person along with a side of grilled bacon and some coleslaw and this went down a treat. These also work well for breakfast, brunch and general snacking too.
And a little bit more about Barber’s 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar……..
This is how cheddar cheese should be. Creamy and smooth, with an intense and complex flavour, it has the very slight crunchy texture you get from properly matured cheddar (in this case it is matured for 24 months). And they use traditional liquid cultures, rather than the dried cultures that are used nowadays. And you can tell that this family has been making cheese for six generations – they have cut no corners and produce something that (in my OH’s words) “is seriously good stuff.” Do head over to Barber’s website to find out more about their whole range of cheeses and butter too.
This is the second recipe for my pantry staple spotlight on plantains. Please be sure to check the other recipes out.
Sierra Leone flavours – is the spot on my blog where I share both traditional Sierra Leonean recipes and West African fusion recipes.
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Cheesy Baked Plantains with Chilli - West African Flavours
Ingredients
- 3 ripe plantains peeled
- Oil to brush plantains
- 85 g / 3oz finely grated Barber's 1833 vintage reserve Cheddar
- 1 tsp crunchy chilli sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to fan assisted 170C / 190C / 375F / gas 5.
- Make a lengthways slit along the plantains leaving at least 5cm at each end so they stay whole during baking.
- Brush the plantains with some oil, place them on a lightly oiled, lined baking tray and bake for 40 mins making sure to turn them half way through.
- Remove plantains from the oven, place them slit side up and stuff them with the cheddar cheese.
- Return stuffed plantain to the oven and bake for about 5 mins or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve plantains warm drizzled with chilli sauce.
Hey Fellow West African, love this recipe.
Thank you Stella, nice to meet you.
I have mentioned your recipe in my Friday Newsletter today 🙂
That is awesome, thank you.
I would never even think to put cheese on plantains. What a game changer!!!
I never thought of plantains being baked no less with cheese and chilli – a very unusual combination. glad it worked.
Being from Florida, with its profound Cuban influence regarding food, I am intrigued with this quite unusual (to me) way with plantains. I always get them in Cubano cafes in Tampa when I visit home. I never can find the right ones in Scotland though 😉
wow, these plantains look so delicious Bintu, I really have to try one!
I need to have a plantain party and invite you people around.
This version of plantains rocks! I really really love the idea of chilli kick to it 🙂
It does rock. I hope you get to try it.
What a lovely dish! I love baked plantains and love the addition of the chili flavors. This is the perfect appetizer or snack!
Oooooooh another plantain lover.
These look delicious, I would love to try them.
These look so tasty Bintu and such an interesting recipe too. Would love to try planatin with the Barbers cheese – I bet they made a good match!
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These look so tasty Bintu and such an interesting recipe too. Would love to try planatin with the Barbers cheese – I bet they made a good match!
I though they might work but I was surprised how WELL the worked together.
They look DELICIOUS Bintu! Have a serious case of plantain envy going on over here 🙂
Janie x
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There’s nothing quite like a good cheddar cheese. I can only imagine what this must take like because as I keep saying I’ve never had plantains. Sounds delicious.
I’ve never had plantains! I occasionally see them in shops but never buy them because I had no ideas of what to do with them – I had no idea it could be so easy! These look yummy 🙂
Thanks Becca
I’ve never tried plantain (apart from plantain chips which I’m not sure counts :P) I keep saying I’ll try it in a recipe but I feel slightly intimidated by them 😛 This recipe sounds delicious! Maybe I should give this a try, seems really easy and straight forward! 🙂
Now you got me thinking about dipping plantain chips in warm melted Barbers cheese.
Oh, that looks amazing!!!! My family would definitely love this dish, nothing can beat flavour of melted quality Cheddar cheese (!)
Yeap, especially not this very nice Cheddar cheese.
I’ve never tried Plantain but you’ve made it look very tempting. We do have a fantastic world foods supermarket which is full of lots of unusual ingredients and I’m guessing it would be my best bet to track some down.
Yes I am seeing more and more plantains in larger regional supermarkets now.
I’ve never tried plantain before but this looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing x
My pleasure – the cheese works very well with these so it is the best recipe to try plantains with.
i love this recipe! Part of my family is Ghanaian so I’m used to plantain. I love the sweet/spicy mix with the chilli 🙂
Ooh Cassie, I hope you try this one as it is really really good.
Looks very delicious! And I love Cheddar cheese yumm
This cheddar is really, really, really good Diana.
Hi!! I am wanting to make these but what is the crunchy chili sauce you used? I’m not sure which chili sauce to use. Thanks!!
I used a chinese chilli sauce called Laoganma. It is a crispy chillia sauce like the serve you in chinese restuarants, It is not too spicy. I hope that helps.