Light Arepas Recipes

COLOMBIAN AREPAS

Steps:

• Mix water, corn meal, mozzarella cheese, butter, and salt together in a large bowl. Knead until mixed well and the dough has a soft consistency. Form balls the size of a medium orange and place them between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten with a rolling pin to your desired thickness.
• Cut the dough into circles using a cereal bowl or drinking glass, lip-down, through the plastic wrap. Remove the plastic wrap and remove excess dough.
• Coat a griddle with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Add arepas and grill until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

HOMEMADE AREPAS

Steps:

• Stir water and salt together in a bowl. Gradually stir corn meal into water with your fingers until mixture forms a soft, moist, malleable dough.
• Divide dough into 8 golf ball-size balls and pat each one into a patty about 3/8-inch thick.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Working in batches, cook corn patties in hot oil until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer cooked arepas to a paper towel-lined plate to drain until cool enough to handle.
• Slice halfway through each cake horizontally with a thin serrated knife to form a pita-like pocket.

LIGHT AREPAS

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, add cornmeal, salt, pepper, baking powder. Mix well.
• Add the cheese (eg: jack, mozzarella, cheddar, or combination)and combine well.
• With a fork, stir in boiling water.
• Add eggs.
• Mix with a fork until dough leaves the side of the bowl.
• Knead dough with your hands only enough to form a ball.
• About 3/4 cup of dough makes one arepa.
• Flatten balls and fry in a lightly greased pan until golden.
• Or cook in arepa cooker until arepas sound hollow when tapped.
• Let cool slightly and serve.
• TO EAT: Split like an Eng. muffin and with a spoon, scoop-out the fluffy cornmeal insides then fill the shells with anything you like. The scooped-out cornmeal can be eaten with a fork or discarded. Or don't scoop them out it's your preference.

AREPAS

Steps:

• Combine arepa flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and add 2 1/2 cups warm water. Using a wooden spoon, gradually incorporate dry ingredients, stirring until no dry lumps remain. Let rest 5 minutes to hydrate.
• Knead dough a few times in bowl, then divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece on work surface into a ball, then gently flatten to about 1/2" thick.
• Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 4 arepas, cover, and cook until golden brown, 6-8 minutes. Uncover, flip, and cook (keep uncovered) until other side is golden brown, 6-8 minutes. Transfer arepas to a wire rack.
• Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoons oil and dough.
• Split arepas and stuff with desired fillings; serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

SPICY FRIED AREPAS

Steps:

• Place water in a medium pot over moderate heat, add meat, seasonings and hot pepper, stirring to distribute seasonings.
• Allow to cook for 10 mins then add soy sauce, black pepper , sugar and salt if needed. Add more water if necessary for meat to cook thoroughly.
• Cook until water is absorbed completely. Set aside to cool until dough is ready.
• Dough:.
• In a medium bowl, sift and combine corm meal, flour, salt, and baking powder.
• Add sugar followed by the margarine and shortening. Using a fork or pastry blender combine the fat in to the flour mixture until it looks like bread crumbs.
• Add water half cups at a time and knead into a soft dough. (water amount may vary for different types of cornmeal).
• Divide dough into balls about the size of an egg. On a non-stick surface or on a greased plastic bag, press out a ball into a round disc about 1/8 inch thick. (a tortilla press is ideal for making the discs).
• On one half, fill with one tablespoon of filling, wet the edges of the other side and fold over and seal off by pressing edges together.
• Set aside until ready to fry.
• Heat 2 cups veg oil and fry Arepas until golden brown, turning after the first 4 mins or so.
• Remove the Arepas and drain on brown paper bag sheets or bounty towels. Remove thearepas from the first set of paper and wrap in a second set of paper towels, keep covered in a container if not using immediately.
• Note: the uncooked Arepas can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and fried immediately when needed without thawing.

AREPAS DE HARINA (VENEZUELAN FLOUR AREPAS)

Steps:

• Sift the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt into a large bowl. If bits of flour remain after sifting, dump those into the bowl as well. Evenly distribute the flour and salt with your fingers, if necessary.
• Spread your fingers apart and make a claw with one hand and start circling the flour mixture. Drizzle in the oil slowly with your other hand, while continuing to circle with your fingers to create little pea-sized clumps. Squeeze any larger chunks and separate them with your fingers.
• Pour about a couple of tablespoons of the warm water into a corner of the bowl and mix a mound of flour with your hand, staying in that corner, until the water is absorbed and a clump of dough forms. It should feel malleable but dry. Remove this dough to a work surface and repeat with another mound of flour, until you have a couple of tablespoons water left, each time removing the newly formed dough to the existing pile. When there is just a little flour left, add the water a teaspoon at a time, using just enough to gather most of the flour. You may not use all the water -- it's better for the dough to be too dry than too wet.
• Combine all the mounds of dough into one and knead on your work surface until it all comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, lightly dust the work surface with whole-wheat flour. If the dough is still crumbly, knead in a couple of drops of water until the dough holds together but is not sticky. The dough should be dry enough that you do not need to flour your work surface.
• Shape the dough into a vertical log and knead the dough a little at a time, starting at the top and working towards you: Fold over 1 inch and knead; then fold over 3 inches, knead again; fold over 4 inches and knead; and so on, until the dough accumulates on the sides, forming a horizontal log. Position the log vertically again and repeat this process 7 more times. Once you are done, the dough should be smooth and uniform.
• Roll the dough into a neat log and cut into 6 equal pieces, each weighing a little less than 4 ounces. Working with 1 piece at a time, knead the edges of the dough into the center, turning the dough a little after each knead until turned 360 degrees. Gather all of the edges and bring them together in the center, then push the center down gently to resemble a flattened soup dumpling that's as round as possible. Flatten it slightly, remembering which side has the gathered ends -- we'll call this side the "tail" and the more smooth side, the "face."
• Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat or a nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly oil the cast-iron with a paper towel. If you have a good nonstick skillet, no need to oil it.
• Roll out each arepa, tail-side down, to about 6 inches in diameter. Cook in the skillet, face-side down, until the face is opaque, 35 to 40 seconds. All we want is a very superficial, even cook on the skin -- it should be mostly pale but a couple of little light brown freckles are okay. Flip and cook until the bottom is completely opaque with some larger golden brown spots, 90 seconds to 2 minutes. A little char is normal. Flip a final time and watch your arepa puff up! If you see a small hole in the arepa, push down with a spatula to trap the air in. When the arepa has puffed up, about 30 seconds, remove to a towel or napkin and wrap to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining arepas and serve immediately.
• For serving, you can cut the arepas into half-moons and stuff them or you can slice them into two rounds and sandwich your filling between the rounds. My favorite fillings are black beans and queso duro (a salty, hard white cheese), or ham, crema and queso duro. I also like to stir together some crema with grated queso duro to spread inside the arepas. We also serve plain arepas as sides for other meals.