Arepas with Pink Beans and Habanero Sofrito

OK, definitions first:
Arepas = A thick cake-like corn “tortilla”
Sofrito = A vegetable salsa
Habanero pepper = really freakin hot
This vanesscipe: Thick and pillowy arepas smothered with creamy pink beans and spiked with a tangy fiery sofrito.

You can get the instant corn masa mix/ masa harina in the flour area of your supermarket or Mexican specialty store (don’t get cornmeal!) It’s inexpensive and makes frying your own arepas or tortillas really easy. And they’re much tastier than store bought tortillas.
Warning: I’ve got a pretty tough tongue but when I make this again I’ll only use ¾ of a small habanero. These things are 40 times hotter than your garden variety jalapeno, which itself is no wimpy pepper. If you’re a hot pepper newbie, I’d suggest substituting a jalapeno for the habanero and deseeding the whole thing. Please use gloves and your best judgment.
A shout out to Dina for inspiring the sofrito: Thanks!

Time: 40 minutes if you can fry all the arepas at one time, otherwise 60 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Pink Beans

2 cans pink beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped
oil

Habanero Sofrito

½ - 1 small habanero pepper (or jalapeno)
1 large green pepper
1 medium yellow or red onion
3 Tbl rice vinegar
2 Tbl olive oil
salt

Arepas

2 cups instant corn masa mix/masa harina
¼ cup olive oil
1 ¾ cups water
½ tsp salt

Pink Beans
Chop the garlic and sauté for a few minutes in a little oil. Add the pink beans and their canning liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 25 minutes.

Sofrito
Put on gloves or cover your hands in plastic baggies and carefully deseed the habanero pepper. Chop finely. Dice the green pepper and onion. Mix the habanero, green pepper, vinegar and oil in a small bowl and add salt to taste.

Arepas
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for a least 5 minutes. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. No oil should added to skillet. Take a small handful of the mix, shape into a ball and then flatten it a little (the mix should make about 8 of these.) Place the dough patties in the skillet in a single layer and cook 5-7 on one side until speckled golden brown. Flip over and continue to cook about 5 minutes on the other side.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 19th, 2006 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Pasta, Pizzas, & Grains, Stovetop & Skillet, Any Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.