One of the most anticipated annual fiestas in our home is September 16th, Mexican Independence Day. My family in Mexico gets together on the evening of the 15th to eat yummy foods, like black bean sopes, reenact the famous grito at midnight (Viva Mexico), and play round after round of lotería, a popular bingo-like game, into the wee hours of the morning of the 16th.
Thanks to the great folks at Maseca and Latina Bloggers Connect for making this recipe post possible. As always my thought, opinions, and love for homemade sopes are my own.
We celebrate here in the United States in much the same way. My boys love playing lotería and I love cooking something special and tasty for the occasion. This year we are making sopes.
Sopes are round and made of corn flour just like tortillas, but the difference is they have a ridge near the edge to keep the topping on top. You can fill them with whatever you like, the most popular are filled with potatoes and chorizo. But this year I want to make them a little more simply, so I'm making sopes with black beans, cheese and salsa.
Making sopes with Maseca is very easy, you can find Maseca brand corn flour in the supermarket for making corn tortillas, sopes, and other tasty treats
If you make them, be sure to snap a photo and share it on social media with the #mamalatinatipsrecipes hashtag. I’d love to see it and share it as well.
Here's how to make them:
Black Bean Sopes
Makes 16 sopes
For the sopes:
- 2 cups Maseca Nixtamasa (available at many supermarkets)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups cold water
For the filling:
- 1 can (15 oz.) black beans
- 1 bag of grated cheese
- Salsa verde -recipe here
- Guacamole (optional) recipe here
You will also need:
- a comal
- a tortilla press*
- 2 sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper
- Oil for frying if you want them fried (optional)
In a deep bowl add the two cups of Maseca and the salt. Make a small well in the center of the flour and pour the cold water into it. With your hands mix the flour and water together well until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, it takes about 2 minutes. Next, divide the dough in half, then halve it again and continue until you have 16 more or less equal pieces. Now, roll each piece into a ball in the palms of your hands. Set apart.
Heat the comal on high heat and place a piece of plastic wrap over the flat surface of your tortilla press. Place one of the dough balls on top of the press, then place the second piece of plastic over it. Squeeze the press to flatten the ball in to a nice flat circle, like a mini-tortilla.
*If you don't have a tortilla press, don't worry, you can use a heavy pot. Just put a piece of plastic down on your table or other hard surface, place a dough ball on top, then the second piece of plastic, and press down with the bottom of the pot. It just takes a little more work.
Next, peel your mini-tortilla off the plastic carefully and place it on your hot comal. Let it cook for about 1-2 minutes, and when you can slip a metal spatula under it and it moves freely, it's cooked on that side. Flip it over and let it cook another 1-2 minutes. Don't worry if the sope inflates with air a little, this means it is cooking perfectly.
When it's cooked on both sides, remove it from the comal and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Now take the little tortilla and with your fingers pinch a small ridge all the way around the circle (see the photo). Place it aside to finish cooling and continue the process until all 16 balls have been pressed, cooked, and pinched.
Next, open your can of black beans and empty all the contents into a blender and mix for a few seconds until the beans are chunky but not completely liquified. Pour the mixture in a pan and warm them up. While the beans are heating up, warm up the sopes either in the microwave, in the oven, or by frying them. I like to warm them up in the oven.
Take a sope and spread some black beans on top, sprinkle with cheese, add salsa and guacamole on top and they're ready.
¡Buen provecho!
Enjoy!
Print the recipe
Black Bean Sopes
Ingredients
For the sopes:
- 2 cups Maseca Nixtamasa available at many supermarkets
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups cold water
For the filling:
- 1 can 15 oz. black beans
- 1 bag grated cheese
- Salsa verde
- Guacamole (optional)
You will also need:
- a comal
- a tortilla press*
- 2 sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper
- Oil for frying if you want them fried optional
Instructions
- In a deep bowl add the two cups of Maseca and the salt. Make a small well in the center of the flour and pour the cold water into it. With your hands mix the flour and water together well until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, it takes about 2 minutes. Next, divide the dough in half, then halve it again and continue until you have 16 more or less equal pieces. Now, roll each piece into a ball in the palms of your hands. Set apart.
- Heat the comal on high heat and place a piece of plastic wrap over the flat surface of your tortilla press. Place one of the dough balls on top of the press, then place the second piece of plastic over it. Squeeze the press to flatten the ball in to a nice flat circle, like a mini-tortilla.
- *If you don't have a tortilla press, don't worry, you can use a heavy pot. Just put a piece of plastic down on your table or other hard surface, place a dough ball on top, then the second piece of plastic, and press down with the bottom of the pot. It just takes a little more work.
- Next, peel your mini-tortilla off the plastic carefully and place it on your hot comal. Let it cook for about 1-2 minutes, and when you can slip a metal spatula under it and it moves freely, it's cooked on that side. Flip it over and let it cook another 1-2 minutes. Don't worry if the sope inflates with air a little, this means it is cooking perfectly.
- When it's cooked on both sides, remove it from the comal and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Now take the little tortilla and with your fingers pinch a small ridge all the way around the circle (see the photo). Place it aside to finish cooling and continue the process until all 16 balls have been pressed, cooked, and pinched.
- Next, open your can of black beans and empty all the contents into a blender and mix for a few seconds until the beans are chunky but not completely liquified. Pour the mixture in a pan and warm them up. While the beans are heating up, warm up the sopes either in the microwave, in the oven, or by frying them. I like to warm them up in the oven.
- Take a sope and spread some black beans on top, sprinkle with cheese, add salsa and guacamole on top and they're ready.
Notes
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