Breadfruit??? Yup! Caribbean style Vegan Stuffed Breadfruit topped with Mofongo!

Can't afford that trip to the Caribbean?  Well unfortunately I cannot change this dreadful "spring" weather, but I can bring the taste of the Caribbean to your home!  Breadfruit,  tvp ground meat doused in Jamaican style jerk sauce and mofongo....now that sounds pretty island inspired to me!

If you are not familiar with any of these fruits, veggies or dishes, I will clarify.  Trust me, I definitely have never cooked with breadfruit before!  So what the heck is breadfruit?  It comes from the mulberry family that is somewhat starchy and similar to that of a potato once cooked.  You can also make this into a form of the popular Hawaiian dish "poi" or into a Puerto Rican version of mofongo.

Mofongo is basically mashed plantains with evoo and garlic and cooked in a pan.  I blended both plantains and the breadfruit to make my mofongo.  It's flipping delicious!

Now where can you find all these fun ingredients?  Plantains are easy to spot in any store that has a large Hispanic or Caribbean population.  As far as breadfruit, usually any sort of international market should carry them.  Though, I have also read that you can find it frozen...not so sure how that would work for this recipe...???

While cooking this dish and tasting all the different flavors, I really felt that it needed something to brighten in up.  It just seemed a bit heavy.  So I added some beautiful, juicy, vine ripe tomatoes and multicolored carrots.  Otherwise, I would consider this "ground meat" and "potatoes"...well sort of but not really at all.  :)

Ingredients:
breadfruit
1 c tvp crumbles
1 c vegan "beef" stock
1 plantain peeled and cut into pieces
2 carrots peeled and cut into small pieces
1 vine ripe tomato chopped
1/4 yellow onion diced
3/4 c jamaican jerk sauce
1 garlic clove minced
evoo


Directions:
Boil breadfruit for about 30-45 minutes or until it is tender enough to cut and scoop out the insides.  Once boiled, preheat oven to 375.
Cut off about 1/4 of the breadfruit and discard.  Scoop out the inside flesh, at least as much as you are able to and set aside.  Heat evoo in a pan, add in garlic, sliced plantains and the breadfruit flesh.  Saute until brownish, remove and mash.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set the mofongo aside.
Now, start the "beef" crumble mixture.  In a small pot, bring the broth to a boil and add in the tvp crumbles.  Remove from heat and let stand for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, heat evoo in saute pan and saute onions and carrots for about 5 minutes or until soft, add in tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Combine the rehydrated tvp to the vegetables and stir in about 1/4-1/2 c of the jamaican jerk sauce. 
Lightly oil the breadfruit shell, spoon in the tvp mixture and top with the mofongo.
Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes.   Serve with more jamaican jerk sauce.  Yum!!!!