Homemade Kale Tortillas

The story for these tortillas comes from the hate that apparently everyone in my family have for kale, I could not understand how a vegetable that I love so much could be so despised in my home (apparently since then I have learned that you either love or hate kale) .

There were many attempts and many ways I tried to prepare kale for them after all it’s worked before! I’m proud to say I made my husband like squid, so I don’t see why I couldn’t make them see how amazing and delicious kale can be. I started with the obvious and an easy one with smoothies for the kids , then massaged into a tasty salad, stir fried with noodles, made into fritters, or even chips, none of which impressed them one bit.

One day when I received a big bag of kale into my weekly fruit and veg box by mistake, I just knew that I had to give it a another try, giving that my other vegetable based tortillas have been successful in the past, I didn’t see why this couldn’t , although in my family they seem to identify the slightest taste of kale.

To make them I simply blended fresh kale leaves with water smoothly, I leave the bright green juice with the pulp as I like to retain the fiber and then incorporate it into the masa to make these tortillas, also because even though I’m a Chef and the cheffy ways would be to strain the juice, at home I find that I cannot do this, is too wasteful and why loosing the texture and extra nutrition in the pulp, that’s one of the things that I love about cooking at home.

So this recipe is done easily , and they didn’t even notice there was kale in those tortillas, my husband likes them just warmed up and served with the main meal, Lily and James love a good quesadilla with the green tortillas (as they call them) and I actually prefer to use these particular tortillas to make oven baked tostadas and to serve them with a good ceviche. So I hope that your family will find joy in them too, let me know how it goes.

Makes 18-20 small tortillas.

Ingredients:

2 cups of corn flour, (special to make tortillas).

3 cups of kale, (just leaves, cut off the stem).

1 1/3 cup hot boiling water.

Method.

Place your kale and half of the water into a blender, whizz it as smooths you can.

Then in a medium bowl combine your corn flour, salt and the kale juice, integrate the ingredients well with a wooden spoon and then add more hot water little by little until you get a soft but non sticky masa. Knead briefly over your kitchen counter .

Once your masa is ready follow the next steps:

1. Form masa balls with the palms of your hands

2. Place into the tortilla press in-between two pieces of plastic film.

3. Press your masa down shaping a tortilla.

4. Place over a really hot non stick pan and flip over after a minute or less until both sides are cooked.

5. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of your masa.

6. Spread your tortillas over the counter to allow them to cool down and then store away.

7. Alternatively if you are using them straight away keep them warm covered with a tea towel, you can reheat over a hot pan if necessary.

Note: depending on the use of these tortillas you can make them thinner or thicker, I recommend to make them thinner if they are going to be fried, but perhaps a slightly thicker if they will be used for tacos as you want them to be able to hold the filling, it’s garnish and salsa.

Tips:

There are a few available corn flour brands on the market to make tortillas, nowadays they are easier to find over the internet, I recommend to try Amazon or specialty stores, and I personally like to use a gmo free one.

You know you made a good tortilla when the steam goes inside of your tortilla forming a pocket of hot air in the middle , this might take a little practice.

The plastic film used in between the tortilla press is just a ziplock bag that I cut into two and reuse many times, to clean I simply wipe them with a bit of spray cleaner and kitchen towel.

I have found the best and most eco friendly way to store tortillas is by stacking cool down tortillas and wrapped them in bees wax paper, then store in the fridge for up to 7 days. to reheat them simply place them over a hot pan a couple of seconds on each side.

Alternatively you can also freeze them for up to a month in a ziplock bag that you can later wash and reuse, just make sure they are completely thawed before reheating.