Arepas!

Arepas!

It even is fun to say! Anyways, I was introduced to this great breakfast idea by Nick's old roommate. He and his family are originally from Venezuela and this was a common breakfast for them. I think of it as a South American English muffin sandwich. They were cool enough to have an arepa maker (like a waffle maker, but for arepas). We used our hands.

The hardest part is actually finding the flour. It's a white corn meal. Here's the stuff we found in our grocery store to give you an idea of what to look for if you want to try these.

They are so yummy and can be modified to include whatever fillings you have on hand, bacon and eggs, ham and cheese, avocado, tomato, etc.

Arepas

Ingredients:
2 c. Masarepa
1 tsp. salt
3 c. warm water
olive oil
fillings of your choice

Preheat an oven to 350 F. 

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, water and salt together with your hands until it is combined. Let it stand for 5 minutes.

Shape the dough into patties about 4 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

In a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat, place the formed patties onto the pan. Don't try and move them once they are on the skillet. Allow them to brown on one side and then, when they are brown and no longer sticking to the bottom of the pan, flip them to brown the other side.

Place the arepas on a baking sheet and into the oven for about 20 minutes (or until they sound hollow).

Slice the arepas about halfway through and take out some of the dough if you want (it gives more space for filling). Add in your fillings, really pushing them in so it fills the whole inside of the arepas. Enjoy!