I acknowledge the poor/sparse documentary quality of these photos - everyone's hands were covered in beans and bacon fat and we hadn't yet thought to put a plastic bag over the camera to make it finger food photo friendly.
Tlayuda receta:
Overview
A Oaxacan pizza made with a masa crust, refried black beans, and other fun toppings, cooked on the grill.
Masa (I bought some premade, but you can also use maseca)
Roll a midsized handful of it out on some parchment paper - plastic wrap on top of the masa can make this easy.
Get it down to less than a quarter inch thickness and the size of a dinner plate or slightly larger.
Grease a sheet of Al foil and transfer the masa onto the foil.
I cannot recommend El Ducal refried black beans enough. They are the same as Oaxacan style (neighbors!) refried black beans - far creamier than the Northern versions of refrying.
I jazzed them up with some guanciale fat.
Roast Veggies
Butternut squash
Apple
Leeks
w/ cumin, jalepeno powder, oregano, olive oil
finished w/ maple vinegar
Other Toppings
Queso Oaxaca
sliced cabbage
'guanciale bits' (=bacon bits made from guanciale instead)
Crucially Important!!!
It looks pretty straightforward in the first photo: a sort of Oaxacan pizza with black beans as base and other toppings arranged on top, but....
The key to a tlayuda is the liberal amount of lard, or guanciale fat, that you spread on top of the masa before the layer of black beans. Vegetarians can do olive oil.
So
Lard, then beans, then veggies an cheese and bacon, then...
Grill it over some very hot coals for 10 minutes until melty and hot
You can have the oven on low and throw them in to wait after grilling, or you can just do one at a time, toss it on the table, and see how people do with their hands, keeping the others lined up by the grill.
'Mmmm,' says Victoria, 'Its so rich and crunchy, but I just keep going for some reason, maybe cause its so smooth too.'
