arepas Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Cheese-Bellied Arepas with Guacamole

May 13, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

This is it! My favorite arepas recipe so far : ). When Ben and I went to Orinoco for his birthday, we ordered an arepa stuffed with queso de mano. I realized two things: first, Orinoco makes their arepas with white cornmeal, which makes them look really elegant, and second, the CHEESE is the most amazing part. They serve the arepas hot with a big slice of fresh cheese, still cool in the middle. Amazing!

The arepa we had at Orinoco featured homemade Venezuelan cheese, which I couldn’t find. But, I thought fresh mozzarella would be the closest thing. And at the store, I saw burrata, which I’d never tried before. I got it and it was delicious! It’s basically fresh mozzarella with creamy curds in the middle. I tried a piece plain and had to exercise resistance in order to save the rest for the arepas.

See all that cheese? How can anyone resist? With a little guacamole on the side (or stuffed inside), these arepas make a great dinner.

Ingredients (makes 6 arepas; serves 2 for dinner or 6 as an appetizer):

1 cup white corn masarepa

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

Butter for cooking

8 ounces burrata or fresh mozzarella

For the guacamole:

1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed

Juice of half a lemon, or to taste

1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

2 scallions, sliced

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

To make the guacamole, combine all the ingredients and mash with a fork. Add more lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

To make the arepas, mix the masarepa, salt, and water in a bowl and let it sit for five minutes. Heat the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.

Form the dough into patties about four inches across and half an inch thick. When the skillet is very hot, add the arepas and cook until golden brown and blistered on both sides, about 8 minutes per side.

Let the arepas cool for a minute, then slice in half with a sharp knife. Put a thick slice of burrata in between the two halves, and serve hot with guacamole.

Breakfast Arepas with Guacamole

May 4, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Here’s the perfect Cinco de Mayo breakfast! Arepas (my favorite thing ever since I made these), eggs, and guacamole. These are pretty quick to throw together, and very filling and satisfying. Plus, who doesn’t love a chance to make guacamole first thing in the morning? I know I do!

I was excited to try arepas with some shredded cheese mixed into the batter, but once they were cooked I didn’t really notice the cheese. Oh well. Next up in my all-arepas-all-the-time series, I’ll be trying arepas with a big chunk of cheese stuffed in the middle. Cheese-bellied arepas, if you will. Stay tuned! I won’t make you wait long, I promise.

Ingredients (serves four):

For the arepas:
1 cup masarepa
(precooked fine yellow or white cornmeal)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)
Butter for cooking

For the guacamole:
1 ripe avocado
1 clove garlic, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs, poached or fried
Salt and pepper

To make the guacamole, place all ingredients in a bowl and mash with a fork until combined but still chunky.

For the arepas, mix the masarepa, salt, and water and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat some butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Mix the cheese into the batter, then form patties about four inches across and half an inch thick. Fry until golden and crisped on both sides, about 10 minutes.

Spoon a generous layer of guacamole on top of a hot arepa, then top with an egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Arepas with Black Beans and Corn & Avocado Salsa

April 30, 2013 By Becky 7 Comments

I have been dying to make something with avocado ever since I got Gaby Dalkin’s amazing cookbook, Absolutely Avocados, in the mail. Tons of bloggers have been posting recipes from her book in honor of its release, and after I saw Recipe Girl’s photos of Gaby’s Bacon, Avocado, and Corn Salad, I was determined to make that.

However, due to a bout of laziness, I was only able to make it to the small Vietnamese store down the street. No bacon, no cheese, no fresh corn. I was forced to re-imagine my dinner plans.

In my opinion, anything with avocado and corn is pretty fabulous, even if the corn is frozen. But, the two together don’t really quite make up a meal. I picked up a can of black beans, imagining tacos with a corn and avocado salsa. Alas, no tortillas. However, I did stumble across a section chock full of tortilla ingredients. A bag of creamy yellow masarepa
caught my eye, and guess what? It had a super easy recipe for arepas right on the back.

If you’ve never had arepas, you need to try them! They are a lot like pupusas, and super easy to make. If you live in Boston, you can choose from all kinds of delicious, cheese-stuffed arepas at Orinoco. Either way, you should definitely try this recipe.

Serves 3-4 as a main course or 8 as a first course.

Ingredients for the corn and avocado salsa:

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

4 scallions, sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of one lime

1 ripe avocado, peeled and small diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter or olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about five minutes, until the corn is tender. Remove from heat.

After the corn cools a bit, combine with the rest of the ingredients and add more salt, pepper, and lime juice as needed.

Ingredients for the black beans (adapted from the back of the Goya can I used):

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 ounce can low-sodium black beans

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 packet Sazón Adobo seasoning

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Pinch of sugar (optional)

Salt to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat, and saute the garlic until fragrant and lightly browned. Add the beans, water, seasoning, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for ten minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding sugar and/or salt as desired (I used a bit of both).

Ingredients for the arepas (from the back of the Goya bag):

2 cups precooked masarepa
(fine yellow cornmeal)

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups warm water

Butter or olive oil for cooking

Mix together the masarepa, water, and salt, and let it sit for five minutes. Heat the butter or olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Use your hands to form patties that are about 4 inches wide and half an inch thick. Make sure the skillet is very hot before you add the arepas. Cook until browned and crisped on both sides, 10-15 minutes total. I recommend letting the arepas sit for the first five minutes without moving them, because at first they are vulnerable to falling apart.

The recipe said you can mix in some shredded cheese right before forming the patties, so I might have to try that next time. Let me know if you give that version a whirl!