Pati’s Mexican Table: Plantain Quesadillas

“Pati’s Mexican Table” is the first Mexican cookbook I’ve ever owned and honestly, I think it will be the only one (unless she comes out with a second one!) This book impressed me from the beginning, with Patti’s inviting smile on the cover. As I flipped through the pages, the amazing photography by the one and only Penny De Los Santos told me this was a book I’d be cooking from for years to come.  I purchased this book on Amazon along with cookbooks from Richard Blais and Jennifer Perillo – sometimes you just have to treat yourself, no matter how many free review cookbooks a food blogger gets.

Now, as you can see in the first picture, I want to make plenty of recipes from Patricia’s book, but they all have to wait. These Plantain Quesadillas jumped out of the page to me – plantains are one of my favorite ingredients, used in every day Dominican cooking and reminded me of home. But even though it was an every day ingredient in my hometown, I had never seen it being used as a dough for quesadillas! Pati scores more and more points for her creativity and fun use of ingredients such as this.

She does recommend using underripe yellow plantains and if you know plantains, you know they will ripen quickly if you forget about them. As you can see, my plantains we’re half black/half yellow (the more black spots on a yellow plantain, the sweeter and riper it is). This made the dough a little stickier, so just be sure to make this recipe as soon as you buy your yellow plantains.

Plantain and Refried Bean Quesadillas

Photo credit: © Penny De Los Santos. Recipe credit: Excerpted from PATI’S MEXICAN TABLE, © 2013 by Pati Jinich. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:20 minutes mins

Cook Time:20 minutes mins

Total Time:40 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 pound yellow plantains
• 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
• 1 –2 tablespoons rice flour or all-purpose flour if needed
• 1 cup refried beans homemade or store-bought
• Vegetable oil
• Salsa of your choice

Instructions

• TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Place the unpeeled plantains in a large pot of boiling water and simmer, partially covered, until they are soft to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the water with tongs and let them cool slightly, until they can be handled.
• Trim off the ends of the plantains. Make a lengthwise slit in the skin of each one, peel off the skin, and slice. Place in a blender or food processor, along with the sugar, and process until smooth. If the dough seems too soft and runny, add some flour to thicken it a bit. (You can also let the dough sit in the refrigerator, covered, for 30 minutes to make it more manageable.)
• TO MAKE THE QUESADILLAS: Meanwhile, cut two circles about the size of the tortilla press plates (or at least 6 inches in diameter if using a rolling pin) out of thin plastic bags, such as produce bags from the grocery store.
• Roll a piece of the dough in the palm of your hand into a ball about 1 inch in diameter. Place one of the plastic circles on the bottom of the tortilla press and place the ball on top. Place the other plastic circle on top of the ball and clamp down on the press to make a flat disk about ¼ inch thick, jiggling the press a little as you get to the bottom (this makes for a rounder tortilla). Alternatively, you can place the ball between plastic sheets or parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin.
• Remove the top piece of plastic and place a generous tablespoon of the refried beans in the center of the dough. Use the bottom piece of plastic to fold the dough over the filling like a turnover. Firmly pinch the edges of the turnover together. Gently lift the quesadilla off the plastic and set aside. Continue with the remainder of the dough and beans.
• Heat 1 inch of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking, 3 to 4 minutes. Dip the tip of a quesadilla into the oil; if the oil is ready, it will bubble around the edges but not be too wild. Fry the quesadillas a few at a time until golden and lightly crisp, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook the quesadillas on the other side, about 2 more minutes. They should be soft and tender. Don’t let them brown too much, or they will burn. Drain on paper towels. Serve with your favorite salsa.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can stuff the quesadillas with whatever filling you’d like – we choose refried black beans, fresh cilantro, and cheese as our filling and served with a homemade roasted tomato salsa. Nothing more satisfying then eating 3 of these freshly fried! Be sure to grab Pati’s new book, Pati’s Mexican Table from Amazon – it’s filled to the brim with traditional and modern Mexican recipes such as Chunky Poblano and Tomato Salsa, Crab Cakes with Jalapeño Aioli, and Apricot Lime Glazed Mini Pound Cakes, just to name a few. Check out her recipe for Red Rice on NBC Latino, a recipe for her Creamy Poblano Rajas on Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s blog, and I’ll be sure to make her Aztec Chicken Casserole soon!

Disclosure: I’m writing about this book not because I got it for free (which I didn’t, I purchased it from Amazon) but because I want everyone to go out and buy it. It makes my mouth water every time I flip through the pages and I’m sure you’ll love it as well!