Jerk Plantains & Pomegranate BBQ Sauce

Roasted plantains with homemade jerk seasoning, stir fried onions & bell peppers, queso fresco, homemade pomegranate BBQ sauce drizzle, fresh cilantro

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For this recipe, we were experimenting with creating our own rubs and sauces. As a meat-eater/vegetarian couple, we don't really cook much meat at home, which means jerk rubs and BBQ sauces don't make their way into our kitchen with a lot of frequency, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy a nice complex mix of mystery spices. So after doing a good bit of research and making quite a few tweaks, we landed on our own personal homemade jerk seasoning and pomegranate BBQ sauce. Both of which are featured prominently in this sweet & spicy pizza. So try ours out, but then if you're feeling creative, go ahead and make some more tweaks and create your own specialty mix!

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Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ball of pizza dough

flour for dusting

semolina flour for pizza stone

olive oil

salt & pepper

2-3 ripe plantains, peeled, halved crosswise & cut lengthwise into strips or wedges

1/2 an onion, sliced

2 bell peppers, seeded & sliced (we used green and red, but any color will work)

a couple sprigs of fresh cilantro

hunk of queso fresco, crumbled

For the jerk seasoning:

2 tablespoons onion powder

3 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried parsley

3 teaspoons allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 teaspoons cayenne

1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground hot peppers (we used dried piri piri a.k.a. African bird's eye, but if you can't find anything similar you can just use red pepper flakes)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

4 teaspoons garlic powder

3 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

For the BBQ sauce:

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

3/4 cup pomegranate molasses

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup sweet onion, roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425° F. While it's heating, combine all of your jerk ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Drizzle the plantain wedges with olive oil and toss with enough of the jerk seasoning to lightly coat. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, flipping them halfway.

Meanwhile, prepare your BBQ sauce. To start, pulse the onion and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. (You can also mince by hand, but this will save some time.)

Next, heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat, then add the onion-garlic mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the ketchup, pomegranate molasses, sugar, vinegar & spices, then bring the mixture to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the flavors have developed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the honey, plus some salt & pepper to taste. You'll have leftover sauce, so once it's cool you can keep it in the fridge, covered, for up to a week.

When the plantains are ready, take them out and increase the oven temperature to 550° F, or as hot as it will go. While it's heating, stir fry the remaining onion in some oil over medium-high heat for about a minute, then add the bell pepper and continue to stir for another couple minutes, until slightly softened.

Once your oven is hot and the rest of your pizza components are complete, prepare your dough using the instructions on the right. After you've baked it for a minute, take it out and brush it lightly with olive oil.

Top your pizza dough with the queso fresco, then spoon out a bit of the BBQ sauce and add the peppers, onions and plantains. Drizzle some more sauce on top of all the ingredients, then pop it in the oven and bake until the crust is a nice golden brown. Take it out, garnish with the fresh cilantro, and enjoy!

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