Garden Hearts®
Vegetarian Tamales
YIELD
8 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 4 Garden Hearts® Petite Romaine Hearts
- 2 1/2 cups masa
- 3 cups vegetable stock (warm)
- 3/4 cups butter (melted)
- 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
- 2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese
- cumin, salt and pepper to taste
- cilantro sprigs for garnish
TOMATILLO SALSA (3 CUPS)
- 1 1/2 lbtomatillos
- 1/2 cupwhite onion, chopped
- 1/2 cupcilantro leaves
- 1 tbspfresh lime juice
- 2jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 tspsugar
- salt to taste
METHOD
- Beginning with the salsa, remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes until skin is lightly blackened.
- Place tomatillos, onion, cilantro (reserving 8 springs for garnish), lime juice, jalapeno peppers, and sugar in a food processor or blender and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season with salt to taste and refrigerate.
- Combine masa, vegetable stock and 1/2 cup of butter; mix until it is a smooth consistency.
- Gently add the sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and cheese.
- Season with cumin, salt and pepper. If mixture is too dry, add a little more vegetable stock. Cover mixture to keep it moist.
- Rinse the Garden Hearts Petites and separate into leaves. Cut off the end of the stems so all leaves are 6 to 7 inches long.
- Blanch the Petite leaves for 15 seconds, shock them in ice water, remove, and place on paper towels.
- Take about 3 to 4 ounces of the masa mixture and roll into the shape of the cylinder. You’ll need a total of 16 pieces, each about 6 inches long and one inch in diameter.
- Wrap each piece of masa in 3 to 4 Petiteleaves and then wrap each tamale tightly in plastic wrap. When finished, chiffonade the remainder of the Garden Hearts into small strips and set aside.
- Steam tamales for 20 to 25 minutes in a double boiler.
- Let the steamed tamales rest for 10 minutes and remove them gently from the plastic wrap.
- As the tamales rest, saute’ the remaining Garden Hearts chiffonade in the remaining 1/4 cup of melted butter. Season with cumin, salt and pepper.
- To serve, place a thin layer of the sauteed lettuce on a plate, place one whole tamale on the lettuce, cut the second tamale into one-inch wheels and place in front of the whole tamale.
- Serve with tomatillo salsa.
Blanched Garden Hearts® are the perfect consistency for wrapping a tamale, once again showcasing the product’s versatility.
Recipe by: Beat Giger
CEC, AAC, Corporate Chef Pebble Beach Resorts; , Pebble Beach, CA
