Colombian Arepas

My friend Megan gave me this amazing recipe. She is a hot columbian lady, that got this recipe from her grandmother…who lives in Colombia. Like how fucking cool. I honestly did not know what to expect, besides her raving about how awesome they are. Well, she was not wrong! OMG. While I was kneading the dough, the texture almost reminded me of cream of wheat. It smelled kind of like it as well. It was phenomenal, so crunchy, buttery and then doughy in the middle. also, you cannot use any other corn meal besides PAN. It is different from others you can by in the grocery store. I will be making these for the rest of my life. You should too.

Ingredients:

2 cups PAN- Pre cooked white corn meal

2 cups warm milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

salt to taste

Directions:

Put corn meal in large mixing bowl and slowly add the warm water. While adding milk, begin kneading the dough lightly until all milk is combined. Let dough sit for 5-ish minutes with a damp cloth or paper towel on top.

Get handful of dough to create a round ball, should be meatball size. Then flatten the ball in the palm of your hand, diameter should be approx. 3 inches.

Add a teaspoon-ish of cheese in the center of the disc and then fold it to close it up. You’re essentially sealing the edges to hide the cheese, making it flat and round.

Heat some butter on a skillet over medium-high heat. Put each arepa on the skillet one at a time, sprinkling it with salt. Once the arepa is starting to crisp/brown (3-4ish minutes), flip to the other side and salt. It’s usually ready if the cheese starts oozing out of the sides.