Wheat Tortillas - Tortillas de harina

I have never made any sort of flat bread before. I have been researching the internet for tortilla recipes for over a year, but became a little overwhelmed thinking I needed a special tortilla maker to shape the darn things.

Over at Orangette, my prayers were answered. The recipe is simple, although I find it is a little easier to shape the tortillas into closer to perfect circles using a little more dough, dividing it into 12 or 10 rather than the recommended 18.

Wheat Tortillas

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
6 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening (Vegetalina in Argentina)
2 cups boiling water

Directions:

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the Vegetalina, using your hands rub into the flour mixture until it becomes like cornmeal. Make a well in the center add about 1 1/2 cups of the water, stir in with a wooden spoon. Ojo! It is quite hot, when it starts to form, you can start to use your hands. Knead for 2 to 5 minutes. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Cut ball into 2, and further divide each of these balls into 6 or 9, whatever. Roll out each of these into a thin circle, using a little flour to prevent sticking.

In a pan, cook for about a minute on each side until lightly golden on a medium heat.