This time of year, I’m on the prowl for dinner in the fewest minutes possible.
That’s because, this holiday week, not only am I super busy at work, but I’m prepping dishes each night after work for my own Thanksgiving feast (Vegan Sweet Potato Coconut Biscuits and crawfish turnovers formed and in the freezer, Tarragon-Butter Roasted Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Turkey, salted and splayed in the refrigerator), so that Thursday morning I will be able to rise, shine and dine without being a zombie by the end of the day.
We’ve got more winter holidays on the horizon, so, when I stumbled across molletes (moh-YEH-tehs) on cookbook author Pati Jinich’s website, I was delighted. Crispy bread. Love it. Refried beans. I’m there. Pico de gallo. Yes, please. The headline that caught my eye said: “No Way Not to Fall in Love.” Totally agree.
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As Jinich pointed out, the recipe requires only three ingredients and can be ready in about 10 minutes. She calls the open-faced refried bean and cheese melts “one of the most comforting foods I have eaten since I can remember.” In Mexico, molletes are eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner, and they are typically served with a side of pico de gallo.
The first night I made them, I ate them that way, but then felt a wave of DIY freedom when I read Jinich’s note that she gathers optional toppings to make her sons “feel empowered in the kitchen, different from one another and like they are fully enforcing their free will on my territory.” (I haven’t yet, but, when I have more time, I plan to try them with crumbled bacon or crispy chorizo, as Jinich, host of the public television series “Pati’s Mexican Table” and author of three cookbooks, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” “Mexican Today” and the new “Treasures of the Mexican Table,” suggests.)
For the version shared here, because I didn’t have access to a bolillo or telera, I picked up a baguette. It’s this simple: You slice the bread in half along its equator. Add a generous portion of canned (what I used) or homemade refried beans, top with your favorite cheese that melts well — I chose a pepper jack — and bake it in the oven until the bread is crisp around the edges and the cheese is bubbly.
I decided to pull some of the plush bread from the interior of the baguette and to crisp the bread in the oven before adding the beans, but that’s strictly optional. I just like the crunch this produces. (I’ve read that some people brush the bread with a little olive oil or butter before toasting, but I didn’t find that necessary.)
Then, serve the Mexican comfort food with whatever you like, such as store-bought or homemade pico de gallo, sliced avocado, pickled jalapeño, cilantro leaves and a squeeze of lime. The more toppings, the more time this recipe takes, of course.
Biting into the warm, cheesy sandwich after a long day at work feels like a reward for my diligence. And the good news for me and mine is that we love them so much, we can eat molletes several nights in a row, jazzing them up with various salsas and cheeses. Perfect for any busy week and, especially, for the hectic, wintry weeks to come.
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