Piononos

Piononos is a different way of preparing ripe plantains, present in Latin American and Caribbean cuisine that refers to a small snack filled with cheese, beans or meat, in the form of a ball or an empanada and fried.

​In Costa Rica, they are more common in the southern part of the country and the central valley, where you can find them as sweet plantain empanadas.

This recipe is very simple to make and even though It is customary to fry the piononos you can also choose to bake them to make the recipe a little healthier. 

Piononos

Ingredients:
3 sweet plantains ripe. 
1 cup young white cheese (queso fresco) grated
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar cane syrup (miel de cana) or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

1 cup refried beans
vegetable oil

Directions: 
Cut the plantains in half and place them in a pot with water (don't remove the skin).
Cook until soft (about 15 min), drain well, remove the skin and mash the plantains. 
Add all the rest of the ingredients (except beans and vegetable oil) and mix well to incorporate all the ingredients.
Working with your hands, take 2 tbsp of the pure and make it into a tortilla add 1 tbsp of the refried beans and roll into a ball.
When you are done making the balls, heap up the oil and fry the piononos until golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Set aside on a paper towel and serve them while hot. 

*If baking, you can bake them at 350F for 20 minutes.