Portabellini and Sweet Potato Stuffed Tortillas

Don't you just want to take a bite? When I saw the original recipe over at The Wind Attack (great blog by the way) I felt like taking a big bite through the screen, so inviting did these tortillas look. Luckily for my teeth (and my medical bills) I refrained from taking a bite, instead opting to make these babies at home.

I've had an encounter with a sweet potato tortilla filling before and it was a revelation. Of course it also had a fair amount of gooey melted cheese to sweeten the deal so I might've been was probably biased. I'll admit the cheese-less nature of this tortilla had me doubtful and I was considering adding a handful of grated cheddar (or perhaps even Brie... mmmm) but in the end decided against it. All in the name of science of course.

And you know what? I didn't miss the cheese at all. Okay maybe a little bit. I'm a cheese addict okay? But the meaty spicy mushrooms and the bright specks of sweetcorn more than made up for the lack of dairy. And you can't go wrong with mashed sweet potatoes. Although I will concede that roasting the potatoes instead of just plain boiling them would've concentrated their flavour nicely.

All things considered though, these were a hands-down success. Hell I might even consider trying another cheese-free concoction!

Portabellini and Sweet Potato Stuffed Tortillas

Adapted from The Wind Attack

Makes 6 tortillas 

3 dried shitake mushrooms*

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

200g portabellini mushrooms, sliced

1 cup cook sweetcorn (you can use fresh, frozen or canned)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped

2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed with a little bit of milk

6 smallish flour tortillas (approx 16cm or 6.5 inch diameter)

sweet chilli sauce or tomato salsa to serve (optional)

1. Cover the dried mushrooms with boiling water and leave to re-hydrate and soften for approximately 10 minutes. Slice and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium frying pan, add garlic and portabellini mushrooms and fry for 4 - 5 minutes until the mushrooms start to release their juices. 

3. Using a pestle and mortar, crush the cumin and coriander seeds. You want it to be broken up but not finely ground. Add this to the mushrooms in the pan.

4. To the mushrooms in the pan add the dried mushrooms, sweetcorn, paprika, salt and fresh coriander and cook for another minute or two to heat evenly. Set aside.

5. Heat the tortillas for a few minutes in a frying pan or a few seconds in the microwave until soft and pliable. 

6. To assemble: Spread 1/6th of the mashed sweet potatoes on a tortilla, concentrating on the front quarter (triangle-shaped). Top with the mushroom and sweetcorn mixture, then fold the tortilla in half over the filling and in half again so that you have a triangular shaped tortilla casing stuffed with the filling. Repeat with the remaining 5 tortillas.

Serve as is or drizzle with sweet chilli sauce or tomato salsa. As a variation you could add grated cheddar to the filling and place under a hot grill to melt before serving.

Nutritional info (per tortilla): Calories 215.4, Total fat 5.1 g, Saturated fat 0.2 g, Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g, Monounsaturated fat 1.2 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 436.1 mg, Potassium 197.1 mg, Total carbohydrate 36.1 g, Dietary fiber 2.5 g, Sugars 7.7 g, Protein 6.9 g

Good source of: Vitamin A 47.8 %

* You should be able to find these at your local Asian grocer. I happened to find mine at an Indian spice shop in Durban. They will last forever in your cupboard too.