Nachos

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 144 pieces, you will need:

• 1 250 g Maize flour (masa harina)
• 2 10 g caster sugar
• 3 15 g fine (or table) salt
• 4 15 g chilli spices
• 5 75 g butter
• 6 150 g water
• Total weight: 515 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
25 min.	20 min.	25 min.	1 hour 6 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Put into a mixer bowl: 250 g Maize flour (masa harina), 10 g caster sugar, 15 g fine (or table) salt, 15 g chilli spices and 75 g butter.
2	Knead until the texture is "sandy".
3	Add 150 g water and continue kneading...
4	...until evenly mixed (this should only take 1 or 2 minutes).
5	Weigh out into 7 oz (200g) pieces. Roll into balls, cover with a plastic sheet and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
6	Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C). Cut out the nachos (classic method) After refrigerating, place a ball of dough on a sheet of cooking parchment and shape it into a square.
7	Lay another sheet of cooking parchment on top, then roll out with a rolling pin to just under 1/8 inch (about 2mm) thick.
8	Take off the top sheet.
9	Cut off the edges to leave a square about 10 x 10 inches (24 x 24 cm). Keep the trimmings in the fridge to use up later.
10	Use a large knife to mark out the square into 2.5 inch (6 cm) squares. You don't need to cut right through the dough, as the nachos will cut up easily when cooked.
11	Mark each square diagonally to create triangles.
12	Bake for 25 minutes.
13	Cut out the nachos (method without trimmings) Cut out a 10-inch (24 cm) square of coloured paper (newspaper here). Put this on your worktop and lay a plastic sheet over it.
14	Sit a ball of dough on the plastic sheet and press out into a rough square shape with your hand.
15	Fold in the plastic sheet over the dough to the size of the paper square underneath, which will act as your template. Now use a rolling pin to roll the dough to the right size, which will give you a neat square.
16	Lay the dough on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes to make it easier to remove the plastic.
17	Gently undo the plastic sheet and transfer the dough onto a sheet of cooking parchment.
18	Mark out as in stage 10.. Prepare all the dough like this.
19	Bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to cool before separating the nachos.

Remarks

If you'd prefer more solid nachos – easier if you want to scoop up stiffer dips – use half-and-half wheat and maize flour.
Why not try different spice combinations to vary the colour and flavour of your nachos?
If you'd like "slim" nachos, mark out rectangles 2.5 x 1.5 inches (6 x 4 cm), instead of 2.5 inch squares.

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