Cheesy Plantain Fritters

And a breakfast sandwich (better than a McMuffin?)

I’m really fond of plantain alongside a fry-up, and I’m also an advocate of the combination of plantain and cheese. If you try today’s recipe I think you might wonder why you don’t eat cheesy plantain at breakfast more often. This recipe is part of my series of British Territorial Cheese recipes – in support of Neal’s Yard Dairy’s EAT THEM OR LOSE THEM campaign. These traditional cheeses are under threat of extinction, with only a tiny number of small-scale producers left still making the recipes in the traditional way. Buying a piece to cook with will help to keep them alive.

Plantain and cheese is not a novel combination. The two are found next to each other on the sides sections of most Caribbean restaurants and takeaway menus in the form of fried plantain and macaroni pie. British Territorial cheeses go particularly well with fried plantain because their unique tanginess brings out the starchy fruit’s sweetness. I’ve long-enjoyed eating plantain alongside Kirkham’s Lancashire stuffed Staffordshire oatcakes with fried eggs for breakfast. I strongly recommend trying it out!

This easy fritter recipe could not be simpler. It takes its inspiration from patacones and tostones – twice-fried plantain from Latin America and the Caribbean – but it’s made with ripe plantains as opposed to green ones resulting in a sweeter, gooier fritter, that goes so well with its crispy cheese coating. Cotherstone is an excellent cheese for the job as it becomes more intensely tangy and salty when cooked. These taste brilliant with a sprinkle of Tajín on top if you happen to have some in the cupboard.

Below the fritter recipe you’ll find a recipe to put them inside a breakfast sandwich that I believe gives the McMuffin a run for its money. I’d like to know if you agree. I made it for Charles for a Father’s Day breakfast and it had everything a good breakfast should: heft, heart and HP. I really hope you give these a go!

Cotherstone Plantain Fritters