Sunkissed Corn Tortillas

I had to call these sunkissed because - well - look at them! The most beautiful golden yellow, that makes me think of ice-cold Coronas with wedges of lime, on a wide sandy beach, with a strong, hot Mexican sun overhead.

It's nice to have something golden and warm and summery to make on a cool, rainy day. Or when things aren't going so well, and you need some therapeutic dough-type activity to distract you.

And these taste amazing, without strange additives or preservatives.

And you can make extra, and freeze them for the next rainy day. For quesadillas, or tostadas, or even little pies.

Little pies? Yep, this is like Instant Pastry! Just oil a muffin tin, fold a tortilla into each cup and fill with your favourite cooked filling (this one is lentil + veg). Top with cheese and bake till the cheese is all melty and browning. So many possibilities ...

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Sunkissed Corn Tortillas

Makes ~16


Ingredients
1 1/2 c maize flour (don't use polenta and don't use cornstarch - it should be a med-fine ground corn flour)
1 1/2 c wholemeal or plain unbleached flour
1 tsp sea salt
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 c tepid water
+ more water, as needed to get the dough to hold together

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the oil and water. Mix with a wooden spoon until it's starting to adhere. Then, add extra water as needed until you can make a smooth, pliable (but not sticky) dough. Use your best judgement. Eventually you'll have to take it out of the bowl and use your hands to knead it together.

NOTE: I use my breadmaker's pizza setting to mix the dough for me - you can do that too, it's not cheating!

2. When the dough's starting to hold together well, pull it into 16 little palm-sized balls. To be honest, I do most of my kneading at the ball stage. When the dough is cohesive, I pull off balls and squish them around in my hand till they're smooth. Then, let the dough rest, covered with a towel, for 15-20 minutes.

3. Heat up a large frying pan or skillet on med-high, with 1-2 tsp of olive oil. One by one, roll out your dough balls into roundish, thinnish tortillas. Fry in the skillet for about 1 minute on each side, or until it starts to show little brown spots and puff up very slightly. I don't re-oil after the 1st one ... I just keep rolling/frying in assembly line fashion.

4. As the tortillas finish up, cool them on a rack before stacking and storing ... or keep them warm in a low oven.

5. Use them as pie crusts (see above), or quesadillas (put cheese between 2 tortillas, bake till the cheese melts, cut into wedges and top with salsa + sour cream + guacamole + lettuce), or use your imagination!

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How much did this cost me?

These'll cost about $3-5 for the whole organic batch, depending on what type of flour you use.