Recipe: Molettes

Recipe Source: Milton, Jane with Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippelli.  The Food and Cooking of Mexico, South America and the Caribbean.  Anness Publishing, London, 2009 p.116

I made these for a recent Sunday dinner.  They might have been the easiest dish in the whole world.  If the original recipe wasn't simple enough, I simplified it even more by offering purchased bottled salsa instead of making it myself.  I did this for a simple reason: my husband and I like food, including salsa, that would make your hair stand on end.  Many of our usual guests prefer milder foods, and some of them actually consider black pepper to be dangerously hot.  (We like them anyway.)  At any rate, offering two types of salsa and letting people determine how much of which to use resolved the capsaicin issue. 

I will also point out that this was the recipe for which we originally made the Sandwich Rolls that we posted a few weeks ago.  I did not use them when I finally got around to making this dish.  They were too good!  They would have had to be made ahead of time, and that would have resulted in our eating the rolls plain, filling ourselves up, being too full to function and having nothing to offer our guests.  We used store-bought rolls this time. 

Molettes (serves 8; approx. $1.90/serving)

12 rolls, split

2 ounces olive oil

2 14-oz cans refried beans

10 ounces grated cheddar cheese

Around 8 ounces salsa to serve, whatever kind of salsa you prefer (or mix it up)

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• Baking sheet
• Pastry brush

1. Brush the crumb sides of the rolls with the olive oil.
2. Remove a little bit of the crumb from the rolls to make a hollow spot. 
3. Preheat your broiler.
4. Broil the rolls until crisp and golden.  Watch carefully so they don't burn - the original recipe gave a time of 5 minutes, but every broiler is different.  Remove from the broiler, but leave it running.
5. Heat the beans over low heat in the saucepan.
6. Fill the little hollow spot in the rolls with the beans, then top with the grated cheddar. 
7. Broil until the cheese is melted. 
8. Serve warm, with salsa to serve to taste on the side. 

Comments

[lululu]

perfect for a light lunch or snack!