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I was planning in making plantain empanadas but the plantains were not really ready and after boiling them for a long time and trying to puree them they ended up being only a pile of crumbly plantain little pieces that will not hold together to make the dough.

Is there anything that I could do in order to "save" them and still use them for the desired purpose?

I was thinking to maybe blend them with some liquid, like water or even cream, but I don't want to try something doomed to fail without asking first.

Any recommendation will be welcomed and appreciated.

Sergio Romero
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    I don't know if it'll work, but freezing will often turn vegetables to mush when it's thawed. It might make it *too* soupy for what you're trying, though. – Joe Oct 28 '18 at 19:23
  • This sounds like you started with very green plantains, and the recipe was for ripe plantains? Can you link a recipe or describe it so that we can see what you're trying to do? – FuzzyChef Oct 29 '18 at 15:05
  • @FuzzyChef You are correct in that the plantains were not as ripe as they should have been, they did have quite a few black stripes but they were still not ready. That was the main mistake on my part and basically that is the main question, "once not ripe plantains have been boiled and are unable to make a cohesive puree, is there a way to fix it?" Does that give better info? Thanks. – Sergio Romero Oct 29 '18 at 15:23
  • @SergioRomero if you ever happen to notice they are not ripe *before* boiling you could try doing [Tostones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tostones). Not sure if you can save the material you have now and try to make tostones instead, but to save them and make flour or puree could be harder. – DarkCygnus Oct 29 '18 at 18:50

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Assuming that you're making Empanadas de Plátano Maduro, You can't really "save" them.

In the course of ripening, plantains convert starches to sugars. This change also changes the structure of the plantain flesh, from firm to soft & sticky. This isn't a small conversion, it's a change in like 20% of the plantain flesh. Nothing you can do is going to substitute for that sticky, ripe-plantain texture, and I can't find any verified way to make them ripen once you've peeled and cooked them. Sorry!

FuzzyChef
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  • You were right, there was no way to make them work like that. I ended up just frying the crumbles, drizzling them with sour cream and using them as a side. They ended up being OK like that. – Sergio Romero Nov 03 '18 at 15:59
  • I had a recent experience the other way a couple weeks ago; I'd bought green plantains to make tostones, and made the mistake of storing them together in a plastic bag. They ripened and I couldn't make tostones. – FuzzyChef Nov 03 '18 at 18:22