30 Minutes 
4 people
By Doreen Colondres
You can prepare this tasty dish in only 30 minutes. The combination of the meat, the sweet plantain and the “hogao”, a Colombian sofrito, is the perfect mix if you like intense flavors on a dish.
If you can’t find buffalo meat or you find it too pricey for your budget, use regular ground beef. Just make sure it is fresh, organic (if possible) or from a good quality farm or local market and with no more than10-15% fat content
Buffalo meat is extremely nutritious because it has more minerals than beef, is very high in protein, and low in cholesterol and calories. For that reason it can’t be over cooked or it will get too dry and hard. I love it, not only for its nutritional value, but for its strong meaty flavor.
If you want to get even more creative with the piquillos, make a cilantro cream and serve it on top or under the piquillos. And let me tell you, you will remember me after trying it! Buen provecho!
What you need to have:
- 1 pound of meat (buffalo or beef 90/10)
- 10-12 piquillo peppers
- 1 ripe plantain peeled and cut in small dices
- 1/4 cup of green onion (chives)
- 3 big cloves of garlic
- 3 pear tomatoes
What you need to do:
- Peel and cut the plantain into small dices and fry in canola or sunflower oil at high temperature. Remove from the oil and let them drain the excess of oil on paper towel.
- In a medium-high skillet, brown the meat for about 5 minutes.
- Take the meat out and leave it aside. Take off the excess of fat from the skillet and leave just a little. If there’s not enough left, add a little bit of olive oil.
- Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes in the same skillet and then add the tomatoes and chives and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add again the meat and plantain and let it cook for 5-7 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff each piquillo pepper or serve directly over flour tortillas or even white rice.
