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Tortitas mendocinas
Flaky round breakfast breads
Tortitas mendocinas: flaky round breakfast breads from Mendoza, docked with a fork
ArgentinianEvery panadería in Mendoza fills a tray with tortitas in the early morning, and they go out in paper bags to be eaten warm with mate, split and spread with butter, quince paste or a slice of cheese. They are flat, round, slightly salty breads, soft and layered in the middle and crisp at the edges, with the fork marks that give them away. The traditional fat is beef lard (grasa), which makes them very short; here butter or vegetable shortening takes its place to keep them vegetarian, and both give a good flaky result. The mistake to avoid is rolling them thin like crackers: they should be a generous centimetre thick, or they bake hard and dry. Chef's tip: fold the dough in three twice before the final roll, like a quick puff pastry; those folds give tortitas their layers.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- ¼ oz instant dried yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 oz butter or vegetable shorteningsoft; lard (grasa) is traditional but not vegetarian
- 1 cup warm water
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour, ¼ oz instant dried yeast, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl. Rub in two thirds of 4 oz butter or vegetable shortening until it looks like fine crumbs.
Step 2: Add 1 cup warm water and knead into a soft, smooth dough.
8 minStep 3: Cover and rest until slightly puffy.
20 minStep 4: Roll the dough into a rectangle about 5 mm thick, spread with the remaining fat, fold it in three like a letter, turn 90° and roll and fold again.
Step 5: Roll the dough out to 1 cm thick and cut 8 cm rounds. Press the scraps together and cut more.
Step 6: Lay the rounds on a lined baking tray and prick each one all over with a fork.
Step 7: Leave to rise until slightly puffy. Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan).
20 minStep 8: Bake until the tops are pale gold and the bases are browned.
18 minStep 9: Cool on a rack for a few minutes and eat warm, or reheat briefly in a hot oven the next day.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tortitas mendocinas take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 55 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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