Molletes

Open-faced and never closed, with the cut sides toasted dry before any bean touches them.

Not vegetarian — contains lard, mozzarella whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 4 bolillos, as on their own page
• 40 g butter, softened
• 350 g refried beans, as on their own page
• 250 g cheese that melts — Oaxaca, Chihuahua or mozzarella, grated
• pico de gallo, as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. IT IS OPEN-FACED AND NEVER CLOSED, AND THE CUT SIDES ARE TOASTED DRY FIRST. Both halves of that. Nothing goes on top of a mollete and no lid is ever put on it -- it is eight open halves under grilled cheese, eaten with a knife and fork or in the hand like toast. And the cut faces go under the grill BUTTERED AND BARE for three or four minutes before any bean is spread, so that the surface dries and goes faintly crisp. That dry layer is the only thing between the beans and the crumb. Spread onto untoasted bread, a mollete is soft all the way through within five minutes and there is no contrast left at all.
2. THE CRUMB IS NOT HOLLOWED OUT. This is the opposite of a torta, where crumb is pulled out so a lid will close. Here there is no lid, the crumb is the floor of the dish, and the crust underneath is what makes it possible to pick up.
3. IT NEEDS A CHEESE THAT MELTS, NOT A CRUMBLY ONE. Oaxaca, Chihuahua or mozzarella. The crumbly fresh cheeses used on sopes and tlacoyos go soft under a grill and sit there in lumps; the point here is a continuous molten sheet that browns in patches and seals the beans underneath.
4. IT IS GRILLED FROM ABOVE AND NOT BAKED. A hot grill, close to the element, four or five minutes. The oven heats the whole roll through and dries it out before the top colours; the grill browns the cheese while the bread below stays soft and warm.
5. THE PICO DE GALLO GOES ON OFF THE HEAT AND AT THE TABLE. It is raw, cold and wet, and the contrast with hot melted cheese is the whole pleasure. Grilled with it on, the tomato weeps into the beans and the top goes watery.
6. The bolillos split horizontally into 8 half-shells. The crumb left IN -- not hollowed.
7. The cut faces spread thinly with the softened butter.
8. The grill heated to high and the halves laid cut side UP on a tray, close to the element.
9. Toasted BARE 3 to 4 MINUTES, until the cut faces are dry and faintly crisp and just colouring. Nothing on them yet.
10. Taken out and the refried beans spread thickly over each toasted face, right to the edges.
11. The grated melting cheese piled on top of the beans.
12. Back under the grill 4 to 5 MINUTES.
13. WATCHED: the cheese should melt into a continuous sheet and BROWN in patches. It goes from pale to burnt quickly at this distance.
14. Taken out and left 1 minute to settle.
15. The pico de gallo spooned over at the TABLE, not before.
16. Eaten open, two halves each, while the cheese is still molten.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes