Olivia Lopez’s Tetelas with Spring Vegetables

This recipe comes to us from chef Olivia Lopez, Cooks Without Borders’ Mexican cooking specialist. Olivia is chef and co-owner of Molino Olōyō in Dallas, Texas.

This is a great way to showcase tender spring vegetables — either the elusive ones you might happen upon in a farmers market (like fresh favas or fresh garbanzos) or more ubiquitous asparagus and sugar snap peas. If you happen to find fiddlehead ferns or morel mushrooms, these would be wonderful, too. Fava beans need to be removed from their giant pods, then each bean must be peeled.

READ: Tender spring vegetables dress up the delightful masa triangles known as tetelas

To blanch favas and asparagus tips, drop them in boiling salted water, let cook about 1 minute, then drain and refresh under cold running water. Use the asparagus stalks for a soup, or roast them with radishes.

Requesón — a fresh Mexican cheese similar to ricotta — may be found in Latin American supermarkets specializing in Mexican products; ricotta works just as well.

The tetelas are particularly nice with a drizzle of salsa macha.

Serves four (three tetelas per serving)

Instructions

FOR THE TETELAS

 1 1/3 cup heirloom masa harina

 1 2/3 cup refried bayo or mayacoba beans

 FOR THE MIXED VEGGIES

 4  scallions (white part with a little green, cut lengthwise in half) 

 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

 2 cups total of a combination fava beans (peeled and blanched) or asparagus tips (blanched), snap peas (raw), English peas (raw fresh or frozen defrosted), fresh garbanzos (raw)

 1 spring onion or 3 scallions, sliced into thin rounds (green part and white part)

 ¼ teaspoon salt

 ¼ teaspoon chile flakes

 Juice of 1 lime

 2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves

 FOR FINISHING

 ½ cup requesón or ricotta

 Salsa macha (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 275 degrees, then make the tetelas. Put the masa harina in a medium bowl, stir in 1 ¼ cup water, then use your hands to knead it until the water is evenly absorbed. The goal is a dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. If it’s too wet, sprinkle in a little masa harina and knead it in. If it’s too dry, sprinkle on a little water and do the same. Make a ball with 30 grams (just over 1 ounce) of dough (if you don’t have a scale, divide the dough into 12 balls). Line a tortilla press with plastic on both sides, and press the ball into a tortilla about 6 inches wide.

2. If the refried beans are not warm, warm them on the stove, adding a little water or bean-cooking liquid if they’re drying out too much. Keep them warm over low heat while you finish making the tortillas and assembling the tetelas, stirring a little more liquid into the beans if necessary.

3. Remove the top piece of plastic from the tortilla and spread about a heaping tablespoon and a half of refried beans in a small circle in the center of the tortilla.

4. Fold one side of the tortilla over the beans so the edge reaches the center of the beans and cheese (as shown in the photo). Fold another side of the tortilla over the mixture, so one corner is a 60-degree angle. Fold the curved side up, completely covering the filling, and forming a triangle. Set aside on a sheet pan. Repeat 11 times, so you have 12 tetelas.

5. Heat a comal or large dry skillet over medium-high heat. Place half of the tetelas on the comal, seam-side down, and cook for about 90 seconds, until the tortillas are cooked on that side, then flip the tetelas and cook about 90 seconds on the second side, until the tortillas are cooked on that side and the cheese is melty. Transfer the tetelas to the sheet pan and place in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. When the second batch is done, place them on the sheet pan with the others to keep warm in the oven while you prepare the vegetables.

6. You can either use your comal to char the scallions, or a griddle or cast-iron or other skillet. Whatever you’re using, heat it over high heat. Lay the scallions on the hot surface cut-side down and cook till they’re a little charred on the cut side. Transfer them to the sheet pan in the oven.

7. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the 2 cups of spring vegetables, plus the sliced spring onion or scallions, sprinkle with the salt and chile flakes, and sauté briefly — about 4 or 5 minutes — until they are tender but still bright green. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro and remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt and/or chile flakes if necessary.

8. Remove the sheet pan from the oven, and divide the tetelas among 4 plates. Divide the sautéed vegetables and the charred scallions over the tetelas on each of the plates, and top each with small dollops of the requesón. Drizzle drops of salsa macha around the plate if desired. Serve immediately.