Gluten Free: Corn Tortillas

Ok, so Cinco de Mayo isn't really recognised in the UK, but any excuse for Mexican food and I'm there! Whether it's chilli con carne, quesadillas or Laura B's amazing Jalapeño Poppers, I can't resist it. If you want to join me in my Mexican inspired feast this weekend, you're going to need some corn tortillas. 

Corn tortillas are so versatile, once you've made them you can use them in place of flour tortillas, pop them in the oven to make hard tacos or cut them up and fry them (or brush with oil and bake if you're being healthy) to make tortilla chips and nachos. The world really is your oyster (tortilla?) if you can make these and they're so easy to make that you'll wonder why you haven't tried before. You'll need masa harina flour to make these, you can buy it from Mex Grocer or Sous Chef. It's a maize flour that's been soaked in lime water which gives the flour a distinctive flavour and texture. It comes is all kinds of varieties and colours from white and yellow to blue.

Corn Tortillas (makes about 6 large ones or 12 small)
You'll need:

• 250g masa harina 
• 400-500ml water

Make it!

1. Put the masa haring in a bowl and add about half the water and mix with your hands. 
2. Slowly add the rest, mixing all the time until you have a thick, pliable dough.
3. Heat a gridle pan or a heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium heat.
4. Take a handful of the dough and roll it into a ball. 
5. If you have a tortilla press, then you can just put the ball of dough in it between two sheets of baking paper and press the lever to make to your tortilla. If not, just roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper until it's 1 or 2mm thick.
6. Place the tortilla in the gridle pan and cook for a few minutes on either side. 
7. To keep the tortillas warm, wrap them in a clean tea towel.

You can freeze these after you've made them, wrap them in cling film and foil first. Defrost, unwrapped, before using and soften them up by heating in a dry pan.