Bolitas de Mofonogo (Fried Plantain Bites)

When I think of one of the most cherished dishes of my culture + childhood, mofongo is right up there with arroz con habichuelas. Anything plantain based just speaks to my soul. Traditionally, Mofongo is made with crisp pork rinds, so I knew long ago that I wanted to find a way to make this treasured dish plant-based and healthier. 

The biggest factor in making these, other than the plantains themselves, is the sofrito. Sofrito is the base of cooking. In some form or another, countless cultures use a “sofrito”. The one my mom makes is loaded with a variety of peppers, some onions, ots of garlic, cilantro and recao (also known as culantro). All of these play a key role in the flavor bomb that is sofrito. Now, you can buy sofrito in stores, but I find a lot of the time they have dyes and weird chemicals in them, so within this recipe I’ll show a super basic sofrito that will get the job done in a pinch and you can find all the ingredients for it anywhere! 

If you try these out- let me know, I’d love to see how you like them!

Bolitas de Mofongo
Author: Consciously Coastal
prep time: 20 | cook time: 20 | Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

〰️ Easy Sofrito

• 6 sweet peppers, stems cut off and deseeded
• 1 cubanelle pepper OR 1 green bell pepper, stems cut off deseeded
• 1 head cilantro
• 1 white onion, chopped
• ½ c garlic cloves, peeled

〰️Mofongo

• 4 plantains, peeled and cut into 1inch slices
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 cup broth or filtered water
• Enough coconut oil for frying
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt to taste

Instructions:

1. First, Combine all prepped ingredients for your sofrito in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until combined.
2. Next, Cut the tips of your plantains off, then make 3-4 incisions with your knife going from top to bottom of each plantain.
3. Once all plantains have their slits, peel the skin off.
4. After the peels have been taken off, slice each plantain into 1inch thick slices.
5. In a frying pan, scoop enough coconut oil (you can also use avocado oil) to create a very shallow pool, remember we are frying the plantains, not sauteeing.
6. Place all of the plantain slices into your frying pan, or fry them in groups if you don’t have enough space, making sure to flip them once the bottom has become golden brown in color.
7. While your plantains are frying, in a small saucepan on medium heat, warm your olive oil and then add in your sofrito. Sautee until the sofrito is starting to darken in color- then add-in tomato paste, cook for about 5 more minutes, then add in the broth and stir, allow this to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
8. When the plantains are finished (they should be crisp on both ends but still tender on the inside), place them into a large mixing bowl and begin to mash.
9. When the sofrito broth is ready, pour it into the mashed plantains and mash some more, incorporating all the flavors together. Salt your mixture to perfection and begin forming into bite-sized balls.
10. You can either eat the mofongo bites as they are OR you can choose to crisp them up. I would suggest either putting them as is on some parchment paper in an air fryer at 375 for 10-15 minutes OR baking in an oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? Tag @consciouslycoastal on Instagram and hashtag it #consciouslyeats