Stuffed Plantain Rolls with Callaloo, Bacon and Warm Chipotle Butter

This Christmas, Santa brought me some books on Puerto Rican and Floridian cooking. While I'm familiar with the names of most of the ingredients, I haven't had the experience of cooking with some of them, particularly plantains.  I love plantain - whether it's fried, mashed, or grilled, I've always been a fan of their starchy, semi-sweet flavor. So when I saw plantains in my produce department with a "4 for $1" tag, I threw a few into my basket. Talk about an offer I couldn't refuse! 


semi-ripe plantain

For those of you unfamiliar with plantains, they look almost identical to bananas.  However, they do not taste like bananas, nor can they be eaten raw - plantains must be cooked.  The great thing about plantains is that they can be eaten from their green stage to their fully black stage, each stage of ripeness offering different flavors and textures.  When green, they are starchy and potato-like; when black, they are much sweeter and less firm.  I like them best in the in-between phase, when the skins are starting to turn brown and spotted. 

Unsure of how I wanted to cook my plantains, I reached out to my friends and my Baconbutterbooze.com Facebook followers for input, but in the end, a spark of inspiration (and my compulsion to spike everything with bacon) led me to create the recipe below.  If you can find ripe plantains and callaloo, this recipe is one that I highly recommend! 


Stuffed Plantain Rolls with Callaloo, Bacon and Warm Chipotle Butter

4 c. cooked callaloo leaves*
4 chipotles in adobo, minced
1 T. adobo sauce
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. ground allspice
generous amount finely ground black pepper
1/2 t. salt
2 T. bread crumbs
2 semi-ripe plantains, peeled and cut lengthwise in 4 thin slices
8 slices thick-cut bacon
8 pats butter
Warm Chipotle Butter (recipe below)

Preheat the broiler to high, and soak 16 toothpicks in water.  In the meantime, make the stuffing.  If the cooked callaloo has any moisture, drain it in a colander, pressing any remaining liquid out.  Once drained, place it in a mixing bowl with the minced chipotles, adobo sauce, ginger, garlic powder, allspice, pepper, salt, and bread crumbs.  Mix well and set aside. 

Now, assemble the plantain rolls.  Take each strip of plantain, create a ring, and secure with a toothpick, as shown in the photo to the left.  Stuff the center with the callaloo stuffing, packing it in - it should be packed in tightly.  Next, stretch a slice of bacon around the plantain, and secure with a second toothpick.  Push the toothpicks in so that only the ends of each toothpick are visible - they have a tendency to burn.  Finally, top each roll with a pat of butter. 

Broil 3-4 minutes per side, using barbecue tongs to turn.  Turn them over carefully so that you don't squish the plantains or lose the stuffing mid-turn.  Once both sides are broiled, remove from the oven, turn the broiler to low, and finish under the broiler for about 10-15 more minutes. 

Remove from oven, drizzle with Warm Chipotle Butter, and serve hot.

* If you cannot find fresh callaloo leaves, canned callaloo can be purchased online. 


Warm Chipotle Butter

3 T. butter
1 T. adobo sauce, from can of chipotles in adobo
1 T. malt vinegar

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Whisk in the adobo sauce and malt vinegar.  Continue whisking until the vinegar's aroma has dissipated, and drizzle the hot melted butter over the Plantain Rolls.