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Sweet Sofrito

Piononos (Sweet Plantain Rings with Picadillo)

Fried ripe plantain strips curled into rings, filled with beef picadillo and sealed with a golden egg coating.

By Wanda Oyola 1 h 15 min Medium

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Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.

Ripe plantain rings filled with beef picadillo and capped with egg, one cut open to show the filling.

Piononos are one of the treasures of Puerto Rican frituras: long strips of very ripe plantain are fried until soft and sweet, curled into rings and packed with savory beef picadillo. A quick dip in beaten egg seals the top and bottom, and a last fry turns that egg into a golden lid. Sweet, salty and a little crisp in every bite.

The Thermomix® TM7™ cooks the picadillo with sofrito, olives and sazón on reverse, so the beef breaks into fine crumbles that pack neatly into the rings, then it whisks the egg coating. The stove fries the plantain strips and finishes the piononos. Serve them as an appetizer or with rice and salad for lunch.

Made in the Thermomix® TM7™

Piononos (Sweet Plantain Rings with Picadillo)

Makes: 12 piononos

  • Prep30 min
  • Cook45 min
  • Total1 h 15 min
  • Serves6

Ingredients

For the picadillo

For the plantain rings

For the egg coating

Instructions

  1. Place the oil and sofrito in the mixing bowl and sauté 4 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1. Add the ground beef in small pieces, place the simmering basket on the mixing bowl lid instead of the measuring cup and sauté 8 min/120°C (250°F)/reverse/speed 1.
  2. Break up any lumps with the spatula. Add the tomato sauce, alcaparrado, sazón, oregano, salt and pepper and, with the simmering basket still on the lid, cook 12 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft, until most of the liquid has cooked off. The picadillo should be moist, not soupy. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool a little.
  3. Rinse the mixing bowl. Add the eggs, flour and salt and mix 10 sec/speed 4. Pour the coating into a wide, shallow dish.
  4. Peel the plantains and cut each one lengthwise into 4 slices about 1 cm (1/2 in) thick. In a large skillet on the stove, heat 1 cm (1/2 in) of oil over medium heat and fry the slices 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden and soft. Drain on paper towels.
  5. While the slices are still warm and bendy, curl each one into a ring about 6 cm (2 1/2 in) across, overlap the ends and pin them with a toothpick.
  6. Stand the rings on a plate and fill each one with picadillo, pressing it in with a spoon. Tuck a cube of cheese into the center, if using.
  7. Dip the top and then the bottom of each pionono in the egg coating and place it in the hot skillet. Fry 1 to 2 minutes per side, until the egg is set and golden. Drain on paper towels.
  8. Remove the toothpicks before serving, and serve warm.

Tips

  • Use plantains with skins that are almost completely black. They bend into rings without breaking and taste the sweetest.
  • Lighter version: set the filled rings in a greased muffin pan, spoon a little egg coating over each one and bake in the oven at 190°C (375°F) for 15 minutes.
  • No homemade sofrito? Place 1/2 onion, 1/2 green bell pepper, 3 garlic cloves and a few culantro leaves in the mixing bowl, chop 5 sec/speed 5, then start at step 1.
  • The picadillo keeps 3 days in the fridge. Fill and fry the piononos on the day you serve them.

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