A delicious arepa sweet and savoury version

This Venezuelan 🇻🇪 arepa variation is one of my favourites, it only uses 3 base ingredients (plantain, egg, arepa flour) and you’ll love it if you are a fan of sweet and savoury combos ! I added parmesan cheese into the dough to add a more savoury edge to the dough and balance out the sweetness of the plantain but this is completely optional! The result is a crisp-on-the-outside, tender-and-fluffy-on-the-inside arepa that you will love.

Due to its sweetness it’s typically filled with ‘queso fresco’ although I’m using mozzarella in this case. I’ve also tried feta and it works amazing as it adds a more salty flavour that works very well with the plantain. Alternatively you can go for a sweet filling such as dulce de leche or chocolate nutella that also works amazing.

If you have never tried arepas they are one of the most popular recipes in both Venezuela and Colombia (they used to be the same country so the origin of the arepa is always a contested one!). Classic arepas are just made by mixing masa arepa flour (pre-cooked corn flour) and warm water until obtaining a dough which is then fried or baked until they turn golden and crispy.

🌱Vegetarian & GF

🍽️ 3 portions

Ingredients

• 2 plantain

• 1 egg

• 80g masa arepa flour (pre-cooked cornflour)

• 30g Parmesan

• 2 tsp salt

• Mozzarella

Method

• Roughly cut the plantain into chunks and peel off the skin. Add to a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil for 10 minutes

• Drain the water of the plantain. Transfer to a bowl a mash with a fork or potato masher. Add the arepa flour, salt, Parmesan cheese and egg. Mix well with a spoon until obtaining an even mix. The proceed to kneading for 3-5min until it forms a dough. If the dough feels too wet you can try adding a bit more of masa arepa. Leave it to rest for 10min in the fridge.

• Divide dough into 4-5 portions. Shape into balls and then flatten them into round discs with the palm of your hands. If the sides crack a little bit use your hands to close the cracks by gently patting along the edges.

• Heat some olive oil on a pan (medium heat). Shallow fry your arepas in both sides until golden brown (about 4min on each side)

• Cut arepas into half with a sharp knife without reaching all the way to the bottom (about 3/4). Full with as much mozzarella cheese as you like.

• Transfer arepas to the oven and bake at 180C for 10 min until the cheese melts. Alternatively return to the frying pan and cook for 3min on each side

FAQS and Tips

• Where can i find masa arepa? My favourite brand is Harina PAN pre-cooked yellow meal flour. You can find in on AMAZON or latinoamerican convenience stores. Otherwise you can try substituting with polenta or cornmeal although for best results I recommend sticking to Harina PAN.

• You can swap the Parmesan cheese for another hard cheese such as cheddar or Manchego

• How ripe should the plantains be? Use green plantains for a more savoury version and ripe plantains more a sweeter version of the arepa