Pacific islands are home to small spicy dish (6)
I believe the answer is:
samosa
'spicy dish' is the definition.
(spicy pastry)
'pacific islands are home to small' is the wordplay.
'pacific islands' becomes 'samoa' (Samoa is made up of several islands).
'are home to' indicates putting letters inside (some letters house or home others).
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'samoa' enclosing 's' is 'SAMOSA'.
(Other definitions for samosa that I've seen before include "Savoury turnover" , "Asian food" , "food item" , "A bit of food" , "Small Indian cake of meat or vegetables" .)