Muy Bueno: Fiestas 
Margherita Mexican Pizza (Tlayuda)
I am often asked if flour tortillas can be made with butter. To be honest, I never knew the answer until recently. My grandma always made flour tortillas using lard and my mom makes them with shortening.
While testing this recipe, I now know for sure that you can make flour tortillas with butter…Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D!
When I had this recipe idea I turned to my mom (the flour tortilla queen), and she gave me some great pointers and gave me this recipe.
After a few tests, we basically used our family flour tortilla recipe, but substituted the shortening with Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D, added a little less baking powder, and less water, resulting in a thinner and crispier tortilla.
These tortillas are very similar to flour tortillas, but are called tlayudas (tla-u-das). Tlayudas are larger and thinner, and when baked become a little crispy.
Traditional tlayudas are basically an oversized corn tortilla, but this tlayuda recipe is made with flour and tastes very similar to flatbread.
On our trip to Oaxaca, Mexico we saw piles and piles of tlayudas sold by street vendors. Traditionally, they are cooked on a clay skillet directly over hot coals and once cooked the texture is somewhat pliable, yet brittle, with a unique smoky flavor.
They come in all sizes and are sold to be served whole or to be broken up and served with salsas or topped with traditional toppings such as refried black beans and chorizo to turn them into Mexican pizzas.
These tlayudas are basically Mexican thin-crust pizzas and can be topped with any ingredients imaginable.
This thin-crust rustic margherita pizza is a great dinner that emanates summer: homemade spicy salsa verde, topped with sweet, garden cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and shredded Mexican cheese.
Celebrate Mexican Independence Day or send summer off right with this show-stopping, elegant dish.
Margherita Mexican Pizza (Tlayuda)
Ingredients
Tlayudas:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/8 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D, plus 1 teaspoon
- 1 -1 ¼ cup warm water
Toppings:
- Salsa verde
- Shredded asadero or queso Oaxaca
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Fresh basil
Instructions
- Place a comal (griddle or cast-iron skillet) over medium heat and allow it to heat up.
- In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil Plus Calcium and Vitamin D and combine until you have the consistency of small crumbs.
- Add the warm water and mix well with your hand. The mixture may be a little sticky. Knead on a cutting board or smooth counter until dough is pliable and springy. Sprinkle with flour if dough is too sticky.
- Form five to six dough balls. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough balls to form thin disks or ovals. If dough is sticky, sprinkle board and rolling pin with flour to make it easier to roll out the dough.
- As you roll out each disk, place on the hot comal to cook, it will take 1 minute or less on each side. After cooking the first side, turn tortilla over and let it cook on the opposite side; when tortilla starts to form air pockets press down gently on it with a wooden tortilla press or rolled up kitchen towel to release the air. Don’t press too much, or it will make tough tortillas.
- Keep the tortillas warm in a tortilla warmer or under a clean dish towel while you make the rest. Leftover tortillas can be refrigerated in a plastic bag.
Margherita Mexican Pizza:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper then top with two tortillas.
- Top each tortilla with salsa verde. Sprinkle the cheese and top with the cherry tomato halves.
- Bake the pizza until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and tear basil leaves into pieces and sprinkle over the pizzas.
- Cut into slices and serve warm.
Notes
- Nutrition facts do not include pizza toppings.
Photography by Jenna Sparks
This post is in partnership with Land O Lakes. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.
3 Comments on “Margherita Mexican Pizza (Tlayuda)”
They taste great as a pizza, who knew, easier than making real pizza dough. The fresh tomatoes from the garden sure gave it a woderful taste.
Can you freeze the dough balls or cooked tortillas?
I believe that the shelf life of the tortillas is improved using lard or shortening. Butter can turn rancid faster than the other two oils.  Butter with canola is not butter.  It’s processed garbage. I’ll stuck with the lard. Much better for you than canola anything.Â