Gluten-free · Nut-free · Soy-free

 

This tostada is just so good, you have to make it!

Tostadas are basically whole-fried tortillas that you eat with some sort of topping, which can range from beans to cream and cheese, or even just some salsa. This is a more elevated form of tostada topping of course since we’re using sous-vide beets, and they are so delicious. The mixture of the soft beets with the black bean purrée and the fried homemade tortilla makes it crunchy, soft, and creamy at the same time.

These beets are also great to have on their own without the tostada; use them for appetizers or canapés on toast, or as a topping for other dishes.

If you don’t have a circulator, don’t worry. You can cook the beets in aluminum foil for at least 2 hours to get them nice and soft, then dice them.

You can also play around with the recipe and alter the balance of it by adding more acidity and maybe more chili for extra spiciness. I would even make salsa verde or salsa roja to go with it, or even pair it with fermented habaneros (recipe coming soon!).

Note: It’s crucial to assemble the tostada when ready to eat; leaving the topping on the fried tortilla for even a few minutes will make it soggy!

Substitutions

• If you don’t have a circulator, roast the beets in the oven at 400ºF for 1.5- 2 hours, or until soft.

• Instead of frying the tostada, you can bake it if you prefer at 340ºF for 12 minutes, flipping after 6 minutes, until crispy. Note that baking it like this will make the tortilla a bit chewier and not as crispy as when fried.

• I’m using homemade tortillas here, but you can use store-bought if you prefer.

Equipment

For this beet tostada, you’ll need:

• 1 large bowl

• Kitchen scale

• Tortilla press

• 1 medium pan

• 1 medium pot or medium shallow pan for frying

• Circulator

• Food-grade vacuum-seal bags + vacuum sealing machine

• Thermometer

• High-speed blender

Uses

Serve these beet tostadas as an entrée, canapés, a snack, or even buffet-style (keep fried tortillas, beet mix, and bean purée separate).

 

  

Makes 4 large tostadas (plus extra tortillas)

Ingredients

Tostadas (yields 13 toasted tortillas)

292g masa harina (I like Bob’s Red Mill brand)

342ml vegetable broth at 50ºC/115ºF

3g sea salt

200ml grapeseed oil for pan-frying

sous-vide Beets (yields 600g)

430g (about 4 small) red beets, peeled, and halved lengthwise

4g sea salt, for beets

42ml extra-virgin olive oil

Zest of 4 lemons

40ml olive oil, for cooking

100g (about 1 small) white onion, brunoise

20g (about 2) serrano pepper, brunoise

Sea salt, to taste 

Juice of 1 lemon

20g cilantro leaves, chiffonade

black Bean purée (yields 320g)

200g cooked black beans 

20ml olive oil 

80-100ml vegetable broth, to thin

Sea salt, to taste 

Toppings

Cilantro leaves 

Method

Tortillas

1. Mix all the ingredients except grapeseed oil in a bowl and stir to combine. Use your hands and start bringing the mix together into a dough, then start kneading. Knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough feels soft and airy.

2. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

3. Uncover and use your hands to form 50g balls from the dough, then cover them again with a damp kitchen towel so that they don’t dry out.

4. Preheat a medium pan on medium-low heat. Set up your tortilla press by cutting a rectangular piece of thin plastic (I use one side of a plastic produce bag) or plastic wrap about 2 times the size of your tortilla press, folding it in half, and putting it in the tortilla press. This will ensure that the tortillas don’t stick to the press and that you can take them out easily. One by one, place each ball into the plastic “book” and covering with the other side of the plastic cover. Press down once with the tortilla press to flatten. Open the tortilla press, rotate the tortilla 90º clockwise and press down again (at this point, you can add herbs if using. Open the plastic ”book,” add your herb(s) on top of the tortilla, close it again and press down with the tortilla press). Continue doing this until it’s been rotated a total of 4 times and it’s facing the same way as when you started, adding a little bit of pressure each time until the dough is about 1/8”-thick. Be careful not to flatten the tortilla too much, otherwise, it’ll become too delicate and break when you peel it off the plastic.

5. Transfer the tortilla into the dry preheated pan and cook for 1 minute. Flip and cook for 30 seconds on the other side, then flip again and cook for the last 30 seconds. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls.

6. Add the grapeseed oil to a medium pot or medium shallow pan and heat on medium flame. Use a thermometer to make sure it reaches 350ºF and stays around that temperature. Carefully drop the cooked tortillas in the oil (only as many as can fit in your pot without overcrowding) and fry until light brown and crispy (about 2 minutes each side, 4 minutes of frying total). Use a slotted spoon or spider to take the tortillas out of the oil and transfer to a plate with a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

7. Use however many tostadas you want, and store any remaining ones in a tightly-sealed ziplock bag or air-tight container with a paper towel at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Beets

1. Set up your circulator in a body of water at 185ºF / 85ºC. Add beets, sea salt, extra-virgin olive oil, and lemon zest to a large food-grade vacuum bag and seal with a vacuum-seal machine, extracting as much air as possible. Cook in the water for 3 hours.

2. Remove bag from water and open with scissors or a knife. Reserve liquid and dice the beets into 2”x2” squares.

3. In a medium pan, add olive oil for cooking and sweat down the onions for 2 minutes on medium flame. Add serrano pepper and diced beets. Cook for 1 minute, then season with salt and lemon to taste. Finish with cilantro, remove from heat, and set aside.

Bean purée

1. Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender, starting with 80ml vegetable broth, and blend until completely smooth. Add more vegetable broth if necessary only up to 100ml. The purée should be a little thick and not runny.

Assembly

1. To assemble the tostadas, spread some bean purée on top of the fried tortillas. Spoon enough of the beet mixture on top to cover the purée. Top with cilantro leaves and a few more drops of the bean mixture if desired. Serve immediately.