Baked Patacones

Plantains are basically a type of banana (or are bananas basically a type of plantain?) that are more starchy and less sweet.  They are a staple food of climates more tropical than ours in the Northwest, and are usually prepared or cooked in some way before serving – making them possible to be eaten both green and ripe.  Patacones are thin slices of green plantain that are fried crispy – much like potato chips here in America.  For this recipe, however, we opted to start them out a little thicker and bake them, with an extra step in the middle to yield something more resembling a cracker than a chip.  We also used a couple of plantains that were more ripe to give these tidbits a slight hint of sweetness without being overpowering.

Gather Up:

• 2 to 4 plantains, partly ripe (plan on one plantain per person)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Split the peel on the plantains lengthwise about three or four times and remove.  Slice the plantains across into pieces about 1/2″ thick and place in a large mixing bowl.  Drizzle the olive oil over top, then sprinkle with the sea salt and toss to coat everything well.

Spread them out in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the bottoms start to brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and use a sturdy spatula to smash each slice flat to about 1/8″ thick.  Flip them all so the browned side is up and return them to the oven.  You may want to lightly coat the sheet pan with more olive oil if you are not using a stoneware like we did.

Continue to roast for another 10 to 15 minutes until the other side is golden brown and they begin to turn crispy.  Remove from the oven, and serve while they are still warm.  These are a great side dish for a Caribbean- or Latin-inspired meal, and would go incredible with the dipping sauce from our Jerk Chicken Skewers.  Enjoy.