Arepas
Arepas! Simple and mighty. The first time I had arepas was in Montreal at Bocadillo in Montreal. They were Venezuela style, and my go to order was the Arepa Pabellón (the pavillion) stuffed with shredded beef, sweet plantains, black beans and crumbled cheese! The best snack after a night out.
There are friendly debates about the origin of arepas, Colombia or Venezuela. If you watched Disney’s Encanto, set in Colombia, Julieta Madrigal is known for the healing power of her arepa con queso (arepa with cheese). Arepas are a staple in both Venezuela and Colombia and even throughout Central and South America!
Arepas are so tasty sliced in half and stuffed, eaten as is, or topped with meat, cheese, veggies or whatever you want really! There will definitely be more arepa videos in the future but for now, enjoy this video! First arepa I made was a plain arepa, cut in half and filled with whatever I had on hand, refried beans, fried egg, cheese and chimichurri. For the second, I filled my dough with mozzarella before frying (arepa con queso). REMEMBER pre-cooked cornmeal only for these!
Ingredients
Arepa
- 1 cup masarepa pre cooked corn meal (example of brand name is PAN)
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 cups lukewarm water plus more as needed
- Oil for cooking
To serve
- Mozarella
- Egg
- Chimichurri
- Fried ripe plantain
Instructions
- Mix together masarepa, salt, and water until combined. You want your dough to be fairly wet but not too wet.
- Let your dough sit for about 5-10 minutes, covered, until it is hydrated.
- Divide your dough into 3 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Flatten into a disk and set aside to fry it you are not stuffing them.
- If stuffing with cheese, form a well in your dough ball and fill with shredded mozzarella cheese. Pinch your cheese into your dough ball, and flatten into a disk. When I stuff my arepa I make about 4 stuffed arepas but when I am not adding anything in them, I get about 3.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Pan fry your arepas in a pan on medium heat with oil until seared on each side and light brown on each side. This is about 1-2 minutes per side. You can make them as light or as charred as you please.
- Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes until slightly puffy. This step is optional but I like that they puff up slightly in the oven and get a bit more crispy on the outside. Remember you are using precooked cornmeal so it is not raw.
- Serve hot on its own, sliced in half with more stuffings or with toppings right on top.
