Globecooking recipe : Baleadas (Honduras)

Baleadas are a traditional Honduran dish but it seems that there are about a zillion different recipes. You need flour tortillas, some kind of beans (traditionally refried) and the rest is up to you - you can add any combination of guacamole, ricotta, feta, chorizo, eggs (fried or scrambled), tomatoes, peppers, hot sauce ... the list is endless ! The version we tried was delicious and used only things I had in my kitchen cupboard but you could adapt it to suit what you have.

Baleadas

ingredients :

flour tortillas

1 onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large chorizo, diced

1 tin chopped tomatoes

salt, pepper, lime juice

250g black beans, soaked overnight and rinsed

extra toppings :

guacamole (1 avocado, lemon juice, mayonnaise, garlic)

coleslaw (white cabbage, 1 large carrot, mayonnaise, ricotta, lemon juice, salt)

feta

eggs (can be fried or scrambled)

Chop and fry the onion, garlic and chorizo.

Add the black beans and the tin of tomatoes (you may need to add some extra water during cooking to prevent sticking) and simmer for 45 minutes until the beans are soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed. (Ours were still al dente which was fine.) With hindsight, I think next time I'd cook the beans and tomatoes separate to the chorizo/onion and add them at the end of cooking so that the chorizo retains its colour, texture and flavour. Turn off the heat and season to taste with salt, pepper and lime juice.

While that's cooking, prepare some coleslaw. Finely slice some white cabbage and carrot and mix with mayonnaise (or a mixture of mayonnaise and ricotta). Season with minced garlic, salt and lemon juice.

Whizz up some guacamole too - mash up the flesh of an avocado, season with salt, lemon juice and a shake of chilli then mix in a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Lay everything out on the table and put the tortillas in the microwave or oven to warm. Fry or scramble some eggs.

Take each tortilla and smear with guacamole in the middle. Top with the black bean mixture, dot with feta and lay a fried egg on top.

Fold over the edges and serve with a side of coleslaw. I attempted to eat these with my hands, like fajitas, then decided a knife and fork were better suited ! They're delicious and make a great alternative to fajitas - the kids are never keen on the spicy filling of fajitas so I think they'd prefer these. The remaining black bean mixture will be made into soup tomorrow night.

I googled these afterwards to see how authentic they are and Wikipedia has a photo of a homemade baleadas that is literally filled with a smear of refried beans and some sour cream - you really can make them as simple or complicated as you want.

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This recipe was designed to use up the leftover tortillas from the Zingy Cod and Mango Tortillas earlier in the week so I'll add it to the #KitchenClearout linkie.

Fancy having a rummage in your kitchen cupboard to see what needs using up? Join in with the April #KitchenClearout linkie !