Mofongo with Shrimp Creolla Sauce

Ingredients for Plantains:

4 green plantains
Adobo or Cajun Street Seasoning
Salt
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
olive oil
Chicharrones
Vegetable oil for frying

Ingredients for Shrimp Creolla

About 1 pound of 16-20 Raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 onion, thinly sliced or diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 (14oz can) of stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
2 dry bay leaves
3 TBSP sofrito
3 TBSP cilantro, chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 TBSP olive oil

Directions: 

1. Peel your plantains and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Peeling a plantain can be difficult but you can find some good youtube videos on this. 

2. Soak plantains in water with a little salt and adobo or cajun street seasoning. Let them sit while you make the sauce. 

3. Chop all the veggies. 

4. In a large saute pan, heat 2 TBSP olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and peppers with a little salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent - about 8-10 minutes. 

5. Add bay leaves, sofrito, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper. Stir and cook 1-2 minutes. 

6. Add crushed tomato, tomato sauce, wine and water. Stir. 

7. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

8. On to the plantains. Drain the plantains and make sure they are dry. Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet. 

9.Fry plantains for about 8-10 minutes or until a fork goes in and comes out smoothly.  You want to make sure you oil isn't too hot you aren't going for brown color here - you want more golden color. If you break a piece open and it is stringy and you see fibers of the plantain, it isn't ready. Taste one. It should be a little firm on the outside but soft in the middle. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt

10. Add the shrimp to the sauce now and toss. 

11. This recipe makes enough for 2 large portions for me so I took half the garlic and half the plantains with about a TBSP of oil and mashed them in a morter and pestal. Add about 3-4 chicharrones and continue mashing. Taste for seasonings and if too dry add a little more olive oil.  

12. Oil a small bowl and transfer the plantains there so you can invert it and make a dome. Turn it over and give it a few taps and it should come out nicely on your plate. 

13. Keep that one warm and repeat to make the second dome. 

14. After you do this, your shrimp is done. Place the dome of plantains in the center of the plate and then spoon the shrimp and sauce around it. Garnish with extra cilantro if you like. 

This was a recipe I made with two other of my friends and we all plated it up a little different. All came out great and tasted wonderful.  Once you make it once you can play around with the flavors, the spiciness and even the seafood you use for the sauce.  

Wine pairing: 

Rove Estate

Unoaked Chardonnay

2018

Leelanau Peninsula, MI