Bean and Cheese Pupusas

Corn cake stuffed with beans and cheese, fresh salsa, and a tart coleslaw.  Yum!

Not that pretty to photograph - delicious anyway.  Randomly finding two pupasas recipes caught my notice.  So I cooked some up.  

 

 

Recipe from Food and Wine Magazine, May 2023

 

Total time:  45 minutes.   Serves 4 to 6

 

An El Salvadorian street-food staple, these pupusas are stuffed with creamy refried beans and melty cheese.  Hot water increases the absorption of the masa, ensuring soft and tender pupusas.  Chopped spinach can be swapped for the refried beans. 

 

2 ¾ cup instant masa harina, such as Maseca, (about 11 ¾ oz)

1 ½ tsp fine sea salt

2 ¾ cups boiling water, divided

1 lb low-moisture mozzarella, shredded (about 4 cups)

2/3 cup canned black or red refried beans

½ cup cold water

2 TBL oil, plus more for skillet

Curtido and Salsa de Tomate

Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

 

1.     Stir together masa harina and salt in a large bowl.  Slowly stir in 2 ½ cups boiling water until water is fully absorbed and mixture is cool enough to handle. Knead masa with hands until a soft, pliable, and slightly sticky dough forms, about 4 minutes.  If necessary, knead in up to an additional ¼ cup boiling water, 1 TBL at a time, to reach desired consistency.  Cover dough with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature.

2.     Meanwhile, mash together cheese and refried beans in a medium bowl using your hands, until cheese is softened and mixture is somewhat blended.  Roll cheese mixture into 12 balls (about 2 ½ TBL ea).  Set aside.

3.     Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet, and set aside.  Stir together ½ cold water and oil in a medium bowl.

4.     Dip hands in oil mixture, and rub together to coat. (This will prevent masa from sticking to your hands and will keep the dough hydrated as you shape>) Scoop a golf-size ball portion (about 2 ½ ounces) and roll into a ball, using your hands.  Flatten dough ball to form an even round about 3 ½ inches wide.  Place 1 cheese-and-bean ball in center of masa round.  Bring sides of dough up around  filling, spreading and pressing to completely and evenly encase filling ball in masa.  Gently pat ball between your palms to flatten into an even disk (about 4 inches wide), rubbing hands in oil mixture as needed.  Place pupusa on a baking sheet; cover with damp paper towels.  Repeat process with remaining masa and filling to make a total of 12 pupusas.

5.     Heat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high, and rub surface with a lightly oiled paper towel.  Working in batches, cook pupusas until lightly charred in spots and centers puff slightly, 4 – 5 minutes per side.  Transferrer cooked pupusas to prepared baking sheet, and place in preheated oven to keep warm while cooking remaining batches.  Serve hot with Curtido and salsa de tomate.  Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Curtido

 

Active 25 min, total 55 mi

 

Serves 4 – 6

 

This bright and crunchy pickled cabbage slaw, made with acidic white vinegar, is the perfect contrast to the pupusas.

 

4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

½ cup thinly sliced red onion

¼ shredded carrot

1 medium jalapeno chile (unseeded) sliced, optional

1 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro stems, plus cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

1 cup white vinegar

3 TBL granulated sugar

1 TBL fine sea salt

 

1.      Toss together cabbage, onion, carrot, jalapeno, and cilantro stems in a medium glass bowl.  Set aside.

2.     Bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan.  Medium-high whisking occasionally, until sugar dissolves.  Pour hot vinegar mixture over cabbage mixture and toss to combined.

3.     Cover and chill 30 minutes – or preferably overnight.  Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Salsa De Tomate

 

Active 30 min, total 1 hr. 15 min.

 

Serves 4 – 6

 

Lightly frying the mild salsa in olive oil gives the sauce a slightly thicker consistency and concentrated flavor, more akin to Mexican-style salsa.

 

8 medium plum tomatoes (about 1 ½ lbs)

8 medium garlic cloves, peeled

2 small dried chiles de arbol or 1 tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp ground cumin

1 TBL olive oil

½ tsp fine sea salt

 

Combine tomatoes, garlic, and chiles in a medium saucepan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Boil undisturbed until chiles rehydrate and soften and tomatoes are tender (skins may slpit) 5 – 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Drain well.

 

Pour misture into a bender.  Add cumin.  Remove center piece to allow steam to escape.  Place a clean towel over opening.  Process until smooth, 25 sec.

 

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium.  Add tomato mixture and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer gently, stirring often, until reduced to about 1 ¾ cups, 10 – 15 min.

let cool. Stir in salt.

 

Store refrigerated up to 5 days.