Spanish cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Talos with Cheese

Basque unleavened corn flatbreads, cooked in a pan and filled with melted Idiazabal cheese.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 300 g corn flour
• 350 ml hot water
• 1 tsp salt
• 200 g Idiazabal (or smoked mountain cheese as a substitute)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika (sweet)

Instructions

1. Mix the corn flour with the salt in a bowl, pour in the hot water all at once, stir immediately with a spoon and let swell covered for 10 min.
2. Knead the dough firmly with your hands for 3–4 min until smooth and pliable; if too dry, add hot water a spoonful at a time, as it must not crack when shaped.
3. Divide the dough into eight equal balls and flatten each between two sheets of parchment into a flatbread about 15 cm across and 3 mm thick.
4. Heat a heavy pan with no fat over medium-high heat and cook the flatbreads one at a time for 2–3 min per side until they show light blisters and dark spots.
5. Cut the cheese into thin slices, dust with paprika, place on the still-hot flatbreads and fold them over; fry another 1 min per side in the remaining olive oil until the cheese has melted.
6. Halve the filled talos and serve immediately while the cheese still stretches into strings.