Gorditas
By Bryan RoofPublished on January 27, 2022
Time
2½ hours
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
Filling
1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces1 teaspoon table salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 onion, chopped fine1 tomato, cored and chopped fine3 garlic cloves, minced1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour ¾ cup waterDough
5 cups (20 ounces/567 grams) masa harina 2 teaspoons table salt 3 ⅔ cups water, room temperature3 ounces (85 grams) Colby Jack cheese, shredded (¾ cup)1 ½ quarts vegetable oilBefore You Begin
We developed this recipe using Maseca Instant Corn Masa Flour. Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese can be substituted for the Colby Jack. Add hot sauce, shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese to your filled gorditas, if desired.
Instructions
- For the filling: Combine beef, potato, salt, and pepper in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until beef and potato begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes, breaking up meat with wooden spoon. Add onion and tomato and cook until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in water and bring to boil. Cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.
- For the dough: Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk masa harina and salt together in large bowl. Add room-temperature water and Colby Jack and knead with your hands until mixture is fully combined. (Mixture should have texture of Play-Doh and easily hold fingerprint.)
- Divide dough into 12 level ½-cup portions and place on large plate; divide any remaining dough evenly among portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (keep remaining dough covered with damp dish towel), roll dough into smooth ball between your wet hands, then return it to plate. Cut sides of 1-quart zipper-lock bag, leaving bottom seam intact.
- Enclose 1 dough ball in split bag. Using clear plate or dish (so you can see size of dough round), press dough into 4-inch round, about ½ inch thick. Smooth any cracks around edges of round; transfer to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough balls, placing second sheet of parchment on top once sheet is filled so you can stack dough rounds as needed. Cover with damp dish towel. (Dough rounds can be covered tightly with plastic wrap, without dish towel, and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
- Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line with triple layer of paper towels. Add oil to Dutch oven until it measures about ¾ inch deep and heat over medium-high heat to 375 degrees.
- Fry 4 dough rounds until golden brown on both sides, 5 minutes per side. Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees. Transfer fried rounds to prepared rack to drain. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining dough rounds in 2 batches. Let fried rounds cool for 10 minutes. While rounds are cooling, reheat filling.
- Insert paring knife into side of fried dough rounds and split 180 degrees to create pocket. Stuff each pocket with ⅓ cup filling and serve.
Time
2½ hoursYield
Serves 6Ingredients
Filling
Dough
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Filling
Dough
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Filling
Dough
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe is inspired by the version we tried at Saenz Gorditas in Las Cruces, New Mexico (read about our visit here). To make tender, Las Cruces–style gordita shells (gordita means “little fat one” in Spanish), we started with corn flour (masa harina), which forms a dough with less structure than dough made with wheat flour. To avoid dry and crumbly or wet and pasty corn cakes, we combined 5 cups masa harina with just the right amount of water to form a soft, putty-like dough and kneaded in a handful of shredded Colby Jack cheese for extra savoriness. Rather than use the typical cooking method (griddling without fat), we fried the corn cakes to give them exteriors with clear corn flavor and a captivating crispness. A version of picadillo the test kitchen developed a few years back—a mixture of ground beef, cubed potato, and plenty of seasoning—was the perfect fit as a filling. We further stuffed the gorditas with shredded iceberg lettuce and diced tomatoes for freshness and then topped it all off with hot sauce and more tangy shredded Jack cheese to make them even tastier.
Before You Begin
We developed this recipe using Maseca Instant Corn Masa Flour. Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese can be substituted for the Colby Jack. Add hot sauce, shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese to your filled gorditas, if desired.
Instructions
- For the filling: Combine beef, potato, salt, and pepper in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until beef and potato begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes, breaking up meat with wooden spoon. Add onion and tomato and cook until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in water and bring to boil. Cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.
- For the dough: Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk masa harina and salt together in large bowl. Add room-temperature water and Colby Jack and knead with your hands until mixture is fully combined. (Mixture should have texture of Play-Doh and easily hold fingerprint.)
- Divide dough into 12 level ½-cup portions and place on large plate; divide any remaining dough evenly among portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (keep remaining dough covered with damp dish towel), roll dough into smooth ball between your wet hands, then return it to plate. Cut sides of 1-quart zipper-lock bag, leaving bottom seam intact.
- Enclose 1 dough ball in split bag. Using clear plate or dish (so you can see size of dough round), press dough into 4-inch round, about ½ inch thick. Smooth any cracks around edges of round; transfer to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough balls, placing second sheet of parchment on top once sheet is filled so you can stack dough rounds as needed. Cover with damp dish towel. (Dough rounds can be covered tightly with plastic wrap, without dish towel, and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)
- Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line with triple layer of paper towels. Add oil to Dutch oven until it measures about ¾ inch deep and heat over medium-high heat to 375 degrees.
- Fry 4 dough rounds until golden brown on both sides, 5 minutes per side. Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees. Transfer fried rounds to prepared rack to drain. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining dough rounds in 2 batches. Let fried rounds cool for 10 minutes. While rounds are cooling, reheat filling.
- Insert paring knife into side of fried dough rounds and split 180 degrees to create pocket. Stuff each pocket with ⅓ cup filling and serve.
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