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gorditas

I love all foods that are described as pockets and can be filled with anything you want. Hot Pockets, pita, arepas, you name it! Though maybe my absolute favorite incarnation of a food pocket is the gordita. I love them for two reasons: 1) They are infinitely customizable both with different, cheesy, meaty, and/or spicy filling, but you can also find gorditas with things mixed into the dough. And 2) they’re super-simple to make at home, all thanks to masa harina. Masa harina is an ingenious invention that basically makes preparing masa (the backbone of much of Mexican cuisine and the primary ingredient in things like tortillas, sopes, and tamales), a two- to three-ingredient affair that comes together rather quickly. This is a far cry from the traditional method of grinding nixtamalized corn kernels by hand. You simply hydrate the dried corn flour to get a dough-like consistency. This is more of an art than a science, so go slow with the water and add more masa harina if the dough gets too wet. You can fill these with any number of things, most popularly refried beans and cheese, but all types of stewed meats like carnitas or veggies like nopales are delicious. Let us know how you stuff your gorditas in the comments below!

Ingredients