by AdobeStock/Ildi
12 tortillas
SERVINGS
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 to 6 tablespoons lard, cold and coarsely chopped
- 1-1/4 cups warm water
Directions
- In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Using pastry blender, cut in lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add warm water, a little at a time, to form dough that’s soft and no longer sticky. (Don’t use hot water.)
- Turn dough onto floured board, and knead until soft and pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide dough evenly into 12 portions the size of golf balls. Cover with a linen towel, and let dough rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Dust each ball with a little additional flour, and roll out with rolling pin or palote as thinly as possible without tearing, 1/16inch or thinner.
- Heat griddle, comal, or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. (Don’t use a very hot griddle, or the tortillas will cook too quickly.)
- One at a time, lay tortillas on hot griddle. Let brown for a few seconds on one side, and then flip and brown other side. Each side should be nicely speckled.
- Place cooked tortillas on a towel or in a tortilla warmer to keep warm while you cook the remaining tortillas.
If you’ve never looked at the ingredients list on a package of store-bought tortillas, you should. Forgo the additives and make your own — authentically prepared with lard — from wholesome ingredients.
These homemade tortillas are perfect for these quesadilla ideas.
More Quesadillas Kicked Up a Knotch
Turn those cheese-filled snacks into full-blown meals with these recipes for quesadillas fit to feed a crowd.
This excerpt is from Quesadillas by Donna Kelly (Gibbs Smith).
Originally published as part of “Quesadillas Kicked Up a Notch” in the May/June 2023 issue of Grit magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
