Marielena’s Picaditas with Chorizo & Red Salsa

Picaditas in Luna Barrera’s house means her grandmother is visiting and already in the kitchen. Every time Marielena Ocampo comes over to their Chicago home, she asks Luna, 8, and her brother Samuel, 12, ”What do you want for breakfast?” The answer, siempre, is picaditas, abuela,” reports Luna’s mother, Janeth Palacio Barrera, one of our favorite Colombian homecooks.

Luna and her family live in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, famous for its Mexican heritage and Latino community roots. Luna loves to cook dishes from both her Colombian heritage with her mom, Janeth, and her Mexican heritage with her dad, Edwin, who she thinks makes the best guacamole in the whole world.

This picaditas recipe also gets top marks from the young cook. Luna says that this Mexican treat, topped with spicy chorizo and sour cream, is one of her all-time favorite dishes to make. And eat, por supuesto.

What Are Picaditas (Also Called Sopes)?

Picaditas are another name for sopes, a thicker-than-usual tortilla made from corn masa with a distinctive turned-up border. It looks like a little plate. Although the terms picadita and sope are used interchangeably, there is one key difference. Sopes are fried, and picaditas are traditionally toasted on a hot comal or skillet. Because of their shape, picaditas are ideal for eating on the go, making them a street vendor favorite throughout Mexico. Popular picadita toppings include chicken, pork, beef or just vegetables—topped with salsa, of course.

But in Luna’s house, the only way to eat them is with chorizo and sour cream, drizzled with red salsa, made with serranos and tomatoes. Chorizo is spicy pork sausage used in many dishes in Mexico and other Latino countries. Mexican chorizo is different than Spanish chorizo: it is made with raw pork (in Spain, it’s made with smoked pork). The spicy kick comes from red chiles and vinegar, which cures the meat.

Making Picaditas With Abuela Marielena

Luna’s paternal grandmother learned to make these chorizo picaditas from her mother in Tilzapotla, Morelos, where Marielena was born and grew up. Morelos is located in south central Mexico, not too far from Cuernavaca and Mexico City. Marielena moved to Chicago decades ago and raised her family here. She is happy to say that her children, including Luna’s dad, Edwin, loved these picaditas as much as Luna and her brother now do.

”My mother showed me how to make these,” says Marielena. ”I feel very proud that my grandaughther wants to continue to tradition of learning our Mexican cooking traditions and other types of cooking too. I enjoy making these because everyone enjoys eating them. I love them because they are something different” and unique to their family heritage.

”We normally picaditas them for breakfast, but you can eat them any time of day,” says Marielena. The only problem is once you start, they can’t stop, jokes Janeth, her daughter-in-law. ”Everyone in our family loves them so much, we each eat about 20.”

To try more of their Mexican and Colombian family recipes and watch Luna learn how to make traditional dishes, check out Familia Kitchen’s “Cooking With Luna” video series. Highlights include: Colombian empanadas with beef; arepas with queso, just like they make in her favorite movie Encanto; fried-plantain patacones con hogao sauce; Mexican churros; and cheesy-good Colombian buñuelos.

Ready to Make Marielena’s Picaditas with Chorizo?

Marielena’s Picaditas with Chorizo & Red Salsa

Recipe by Janeth Palacio Barrera

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• For the Salsa

• 2 tomatoes (if using Roma, use 3)

• 1 or 2 serrano chiles, with seeds or without, according to your heat tolerance

• 1/2 onion, small

• 3 sprigs fresh cilantro

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 Tbsp water

• For the Chorizo Topping

• 1 lb chorizo, packaged

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• For the Corn Tortillas

• 2 lbs masa harina, like Maseca (about 4 2/3 cups)

• 4 cups warm water, add a little more if too dry

• 1 tortilla press

• 1 plastic bag, big enough to cover tortilla press surface

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 8 oz sour cream or Mexican crema

• 1 Tbsp salt

Directions

• Make the Salsa
• Rinse the tomatoes and serrano chiles.
• Toast the tomatoes and chiles on a medium-high-heat comal or cast-iron pan on the stovetop, turning them from time to time. When the skin of the tomatoes and chiles’ skins blisters and turns brown-black in areas, they are done.
• Place the tomatoes, chiles and the rest of the salsa ingredients in a blender.
• Pulse for about 10 seconds, or until the salsa reaches your desired consistency. Set aside.
• Make the Chorizo Topping
• Peel the chorizo.
• Heat the oil in a pan.
• Sauté the chorizo, using a fork to crumble and separate the meat as it sizzles.
• When the chorizo is thoroughly cooked and crumbled, set aside.
• Make the Corn Tortillas
• Slice the plastic bag in half. Lay one half on the bottom and one half on the top side of the tortilla press.
• Make your masa with the warm water until it is smooth and barely moist. If it is too dry, add a little bit more warm water. If it is too wet, add a little bit more masa.
• Knead the masa with your hands for about 3 minutes.
• When the masa is holding together and smooth, roll little chunks between your hands to make small balls, each about the size of a large golf ball. Set them aside on a sheet tray, parchment paper, or clean work surface until all the masa is used.
• One at a time, place each masa ball between the plastic sheets lining the tortilla press (so it won’t stick).
• Close the press. Open the press and flip the flattened tortilla so that the other side if now facing up. Close the press again. Set each flattened tortilla aside, on parchment paper or a sheet tray.
• Repeat until all the tortillas are flattened.
• Make Your Picaditas
• Heat a comal, griddle, cast-iron pan or nonstick skillet on the stovetop, to medium-high.
• Place the masa discs on the skillet, in batches, without overcrowding. When the first side of each tortilla turns lightly golden, flip it and toast the second side.
• As each tortilla comes off the hot pan, press the corners up with your fingers, making a 1/3-inch border all around each tortilla edge. Set them aside as you go, until all the picaditas are toasted, turned up, and ready to fill.
• Brush a little bit of the olive oil on the inside of each tortilla “plate” and return it to the hot pan.
• When the oil starts to warm, add 1 to 2 Tbsp of sour cream or Mexican crema to each tortilla, spreading it with the back of your spoon across the surface.
• Sprinkle a little salt on the cream.
• When the cream starts to lightly bubble, top it with 2 to 3 Tbsp chorizo.
• Drizzle with the red salsa and serve immediately, while still warm.

Notes

• You can make picaditas with or without the sour cream or Mexican crema, says Mariaelena. Her granddaughter Luna loves them with sour cream, so con cream it is in their home.

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