I was going through my blog posts today and realized I have never shared the recipe for flour tortillas, so I needed to remedy that post haste!
When we think about tortillas, we know that is that one food item that is part of the Mexican identity. It is our daily bread, and tortillas make an appearance at every meal on the Mexican table, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner - and even as a little snack between meals, slathered with butter and salt or smashed avocado. Tortillas are the vessel for many different meals, starting with the obvious tacos, but also enchiladas, tostadas, flautas and burritos.
All over Mexico we eat corn masa tortillas, but all along the North, our pride and joy are wheat flour tortillas. Depending on which State you visit, you can find varying sizes of tortillas - the ones called “Sobaqueras” from Sonora, measure anywhere from 40-60cm in diameter! Moving East through Chihuahua, you will find large ones specially made for making Burritos, and as you move further East, the tortillas get a bit smaller. Nowadays you find the regular 15 cm size, along with the “taqueras”, which are special small tortillas made specifically for tacos, as they are about 12cm in diameter and you can eat 3 or 4 or 6 at a time!
When I was a young child, my Nana used to make tortillas every day. Corn tortillas would appear at the table for every meal, but the special days were when she made flour tortillas. They are indescribably good! Tender, rich, soft and pliable. It’s like eating a fluffy cloud. I would stand beside her waiting for the first one to come off the comal, so I could snatch it and eat it slathered with butter and a pinch of salt. Pure bliss.
I have spent my life trying to make tortillas as good as hers. She would NEVER measure anything and I have to admit I am not there yet. I think I would need to make tortillas every day for one year to get to be as good as her! Regardless, making flour tortillas is pretty easy. All you need is wheat flour (I like to use all purpose), salt, lard and water.
Place the flour in a large bowl and work the lard until it’s in very small bits. Add warm water (always warm water please) and work it in until you have a fairly smooth dough. You don’t need to knead it as much as you knead bread, but you want it fully incorporated with the lard fully worked in. It is important to let the dough rest - this is crucial - at least half an hour but up to two hours if you can. If your dough rests, it will fully hydrate, the gluten will relax and your tortillas will puff up beautifully.
The hardest part about making tortillas is that they must be rolled individually with a rolling pin. Don’t be discouraged if the first ones are not perfectly round. Practice makes perfect, and the trick is to turn your dough by quarter turns as you roll them out. That will help keep them round.
Flour tortillas, like their corn counterpart, cook best on a comal, so if you have a cast iron griddle, please use that. If not, find the heaviest frying pan you own and use it. After they’re cooked, put a clean tea towel over a cooling wire rack and stack your cooked tortillas as they come off the comal. Cover them with the tea towel - this will steam and soften them as they cool.
Now, the best fillings for these are cheese (think quesadillas), scrambled eggs with or without chorizo, and queso flameado (find this recipe in the blog). If you have leftovers (and I doubt you will), you can keep them in a bag in the fridge for about a week, but you can also freeze them. Make some flour tortillas soon - they are delicious!
Tortillas de Harina
Wheat Flour Tortillas
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cups lard or vegetable shortening
1 - 1 1/2 cups warm water
Place flour in large bowl and mix in salt. Add cold shortening and start breaking it up with your hands. Work the mixture until lard is in tiny bits.
Start adding water - first add about 3/4 cup and then only use what you need to get the dough to come together as you mix. You should have a fairly smooth, pliable dough that is not too sticky anymore.
Give it a few turns on the counter and then portion into balls about the size of golf balls. Place the dough balls in the bowl, cover them and let them rest 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
When ready to cook preheat griddle over medium heat. Place some flour on board and start rolling tortillas with floured rolling pin, turning the dough by quarter turns as you roll and extend dough. Get the dough as thin as you can. Transfer the tortillas to the hot griddle and cook on the first side for about 20-30 seconds, it will start to puff up pretty soon after it touches the hot pan. Turn when the bottom is starting to get colour. Cook on the second side for about 20-30 seconds. Turn one more time to finish the cooking process.
Transfer cooked tortilla to a towel set over a cooling wire rack. Continue until you’ve used up all the dough balls. Enjoy tortillas right away or cool and store.
Makes 28-30 tortillas.