Tetelas with Beans, Cheese and Salsa Verde

Depending on the quality of the masa harina. beans and cheese you use, you may not even want to garnish these delightful triangles, which are filled with refried beans and melty cheese. We highly recommend the masa harinas produced by Masienda; at the time of this writing, they are the only ones made from heirloom corn from Mexico that are available in the U.S. They are far superior to any others we have found. An color will do: blue, pink or white. Of course if you happen to have access to freshly ground masa, that is even better. If so, just skip the dough-mixing part in Step 1.

I like to keep jars of store-bought salsa verde on hand for last-minute tetela cravings; Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods make decent ones. Of course it’s much better if you make your own salsa verde; freshly made pico de gallo is great on these too.

For the cheese, these are wonderful with quesillo (also known as queso Oaxaca, it’s like string cheese’s better self), or queso fresco, but you can use any meltable mild cheese, such as jack.

Optional garnishes are salsa macha, cilantro, sliced avocado and crema (Mexican-style sour cream). Two tetelas makes a nice lunch for most people; serve three per person for dinner or for bigger eaters.

READ: “How to make tetelas — those tasty, triangular masa packets that are about to become super trendy”

Makes 6 tetelas.

Ingredients

2/3 cup masa harina (preferably Masienda)

2/3 cup refried beans

Shredded quesillo (queso Oaxaca, Oaxacan string cheese) or other mild, meltable cheese