Day 13.

At the suggestion of a reader, I looked up Papusas, a Salvadoran treat made from masa. These are little masa dough pockets filled with, well, whatever you want as filling. Some of the suggestions include meats, chicharrones, refried beans, cheese, cheese and Loroco (a tropical vine flower).

I chose refried beans. Because that’s what I had leftover! And, remember the tamale dough I had leftover? I used that for these, too. So, while it’s not a casserole, per se, this is my leftovers recipe for the week.

But, here’s the recipe if you don’t have leftover dough.

Papusas

Ingredients
Dough
2 C Masa harina
1 C Warm water
1 C Filling (varies)
I suggest adding a bit of Spike or taco seasoning to the dough
Filling
3/4 C Refried black beans
1/4 C Mexican blend cheese

Directions
Mix together the masa harina and water and knead well. If needed, knead in more water, 1 Tbsp. at a time to make a moist, firm dough. Cover and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into eighths. Roll each of those pieces into a ball. Press your thumb into each ball to make a trough to place about 1 Tbsp. of filling into the ball. 

Fold the ball over itself to enclose filling. Press the ball flat to form a disc. Place dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper and roll it out with a rolling pin so it is about 5 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick.
Heat an ungreased skillet over medium-high flame. Cook each pupusa for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and blistered. Remove to a plate and hold warm until all pupusas are done. Serve with sour cream and salsa. Recipe inspired by wikipedia and whats4eats.com.


The Results
How could this not be good? It’s like a tamale, but grilled instead of steamed. I used the leftover dough (has shortening in it) and made one without shortening. They were both delicious, but the recipe as written was a little less crumbly/fragile to grill. These were delicious. I’ll definitely be making them again and trying all kinds of different fillings.

I joined up with a great project this week, Project: Food Budget. This goes along nicely with the Pantry Challenge at Goodcheapeats.com. I will be continuing my series on leftovers casserole, or whatever Frankenstein Leftovers Creation I make out of my pantry and my fridge leftovers every Thursday.

Here are the other blogs participating in Project: Food Budget.

This post is linked at Tuesdays at the Table, Tip Day Thursday and Frugal Fridays.