Flirty Flautas (Poblano and Cheese)

The first time I had these tasty little tubes of magic, I was in Tequila, Jalisco on a tequila distillery tour. It was lunchtime, we’d had too many sips of that liquid gold and I was hangry. As we left, I was accosted by the scent of frying cheese and without thinking I found myself with a handful of these fried tubes of glory. UGH. So good but so bad. The best to eat when drinking, these flautas are pan-fried, cheesy, add have a tiny bit of veg in there to trick you that it’s healthy.

Serves: 4-6

Cooks: in 15 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pack of small tortillas. I use a blend of corn and wheat but use whatever you prefer

• 200 grams of jalapeño or plain Monterey Cheese cut into little strips

• 6 poblano peppers or if you can't source poblanos then use small green peppers

• Pickled and sliced jalapeños

• Vegetable oil for frying

Dipping Sauce

• 5 tbsp mayo or plain greek yogurt

• 1 tbsp chilli powder or Valentinos hot sauce

• Juice of ½ a lime

• Dash of paprika

• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Blacken the peppers on your gas stove. Put them straight onto the flame, and watch with delight as they char, blister and pop.

2. Once done, remove with tongs and use a paper towel to remove the black char. Set aside

3. Slice cheese into strips

4. Line up tortillas, on each place the pepper, and a strip of cheese. I also add a few pickled jalapeños because I like things spicy. Roll those tortillas up as tightly as possible. (I use a toothpick to keep them tight)

5. Heat up a pot of oil for frying on medium heat. About 1 inch of oil. It’s ready to go when you flick water in it and the oil bubbles.

6. Place each rolled-up bundle gently in the oil. Use tongs because hot oil is scary and will hurt you if you’re not careful. Fry until golden, flip.

7. Remove flautas and place on paper towel or a cooling rack.

8. Serve with dipping sauce