I have a brilliant idea: green fig and saltfish pie.
I love to play with food: The ideas, thoughts, methods and approaches. Probably it is this creative and somewhat playful angle to cooking that always have me thinking up new recipes or twists to old recipes. Sometimes I just ask myself a question about a particular ingredient or dish and this leads me to coming up with something new and exciting, from our Caribbean produce.
Questions like: How will this taste if I paired it with this ingredient? or Why not try this ingredient in a different way from the traditional perspective? or even What new dish could be prepared using this ingredient? …Of course this goes on at length in my mind like a debate pushing the limits to what is expected and the norm. But we cannot go too far away from the norm and be termed avant garde in our meal preparation.
Anyhow, with these and many other questions/ musings, I finally came up with a unique spin on an old friend of a dish we know as Mr. Green fig and Saltfish. Now I know some of you may say that this dish is already great as it is and really Trini to de Bone, but my questions lead me to What if? and Why not try this? So here I was in the kitchen as usual minding my business when the idea came to me to take this dish and make it into a one dish meal.
So using methods, from the normal way we make fig pie here in Trinidad and Tobago and adding a saltfish layer we had a pyrex dish of innovation baking away in the oven….at 350 degrees lol 🙂 Here’s Green Fig and Saltfish Pie.
Green Fig and Saltfish Pie Recipe
GREEN FIG AND SALTFISH PIE
11 green fig (banana), boiled and crushed
1 1/4 cups flaked saltfish
4 med tomatoes
1 med onion
2 pimento peppers
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp. tomato paste
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. allspice powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. parsley
3/4 cup cooking cream
1 egg, beaten
In a medium-sized pot, cook the green fig. Then remove the skin.
Note: Add a few drops of oil to the water to prevent the pot from getting sticky and hard to clean.
Dice the green fig and set aside.
Cook the saltfish and remove the fishbone, if there is any.
Break the saltfish into small pieces.
Saute the onion, pimento, and garlic.
Add the tomatoes and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
Then add the saltfish and tomato paste.
Cook for another 3 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Set aside.
To the diced green fig, add paprika, allspice powder, garlic powder, onion powder, butter and parsley. Mix well.
In a bowl mix the two cheeses.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, the cooking cream and the beaten egg.
Mix well.
Place half of the green fig mixture in a greased baking dish. Top with the stewed saltfish.
Pour the rest of the greenfig mixture over the stewed saltfish.
Finally spread the rest of the grated cheese over the pie.
Place in a 350 degrees F oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pie is golden on the top.
Green Fig (banana) and Saltfish Pie
Ingredients
- 11 green fig banana, boiled and crushed
- 1 1/4 cups flaked saltfish
- 4 med tomatoes
- 1 med onion
- 2 pimento peppers
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. allspice powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp parsley
- 3/4 cup cooking cream
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot, cook the green fig. Then remove the skin.
- Note: Add a few drops of oil to the water to prevent the pot from getting sticky and hard to clean.
- Dice the green fig and set aside.
- Cook the saltfish and remove the fish bones, if there are any.
- Break the saltfish into small pieces.
- Saute the onion, pimento, and garlic.
- Add the tomatoes and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
- Then add the saltfish and tomato paste.
- Cook for another 3 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside.
- To the diced green fig, add paprika, allspice powder, garlic powder, onion powder, butter and parsley. Mix well.
- In a bowl mix the two cheeses.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, the cooking cream and the beaten egg. Mix well.
- Place half of the green fig mixture in a greased baking dish. Top with the stewed saltfish.
- Pour the rest of the greenfig mixture over the stewed saltfish.
- Finally spread the rest of the grated cheese over the pie.
- Place in a 350 degrees F oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pie is golden on the top.
Well that’s it for another post. If you like my green fig and saltfish pie why not leave a comment or two.
Ah gone 🙂
A must try
Yo yum
bring me a slice
Have to try this one..
gonna try this
Andrson Mc Kain
Ideal ital meal
Gonna try this
Interesting! Wil taste it
Yum yum
Never had this but must try it.
ummmm
Me too Deborah Jordan-Prince, looking good
I do this with plantains. The flavour pairing of the sweet plantains and saltfish really makes the dish ‘yummo’.
sounds like a plan. do you use the plantains ripe or half ripe?
Ripe and use pimentos,garlic, onions for seasoning… and of course cheese.
Interesting. Don’t eat green fig but this looks good so I will try.
*drool*
Must. Try
Never tried it with salt fish but I will consider.
🙂
I just made this today, thanks for the recipe.
I’m new to cooking. What can you serve this dish with? Would callaloo be ok and green salad perhaps? I’m open for suggestions.
When do you add the cooking cream. I am not seeing it being added in the directions however it is listed as an ingredient.
Add with the cheese and the beaten egg. Thanks for the heads up. 🙂
Can I prepare this recipe ahead of time and freeze?
Why spoil a great dish like this by freezing it then reheating it?
This is my second time making this; in the oven as I type. Loved it, my family loved it. This time I added a small bit of sweet potato to the green fig mix. I’ll let you know how it came out.
One of my favorite pies of all time. It’s yummylicious. By the way I use green bananas. Thanks a million for sharing this recipe. I had a dump cake for dessert. The combination was heavenly….and both sooo easy to make!
This is a Lucian dish (St. Lucia) and you know or should know this. How dishonest of you.
Hello, thank you for your information. I did not know that this is also a Lucian dish, and I am glad to know that. The islands do share similar dishes, after all we share the same climate and a bit of history as well. Green fig and salfish is also a favourite in Trinidad and Tobago, and I do have a lot of green fig growing in my own backyard. If you like to know, there are also many other green fig recipes we enjoy and have shared on this website. You are invited to have a read. Here are some: green fig souse; Green fig salad, green fig and saltfish; and green fig punch.