Emma Newlyn Yoga

On our recent trip to the West coast of America, we discovered just how much LA seems to love tacos right now. The Tex-Mex tortillas and spicy fillings, abundance of eclectic options and absolute deliciousness were a regular appearance throughout the trip, and when taco Tuesday at Diabolo in Silverlake arrives, devouring 2 tacos and a margarita for $13 is no problem at all. (We actually lost track of the days and thought we were going in there for ‘Wine Wednesday’, but this turned out to be a very happy mistake…)

Since then, making a really good mexican feast is something I’ve been working on in bits and pieces. This week I experimented with a healthier spelt flour recipe and it
worked! Crispy, healthy, small enough to handle, delicious and most importantly pick-up-able taco shells! Yes you could of course buy your own, but there’s something incredibly satisfying and fulfilling about making your own from scratch, and kneading dough is a therapeutic practice in itself. Give these a try and come back for the chilli recipe next week.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 9 mini taco shells)

• 2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of good quality salt
• herbs or spices of choice (chillis, sage, cumin, coriander, a bbq etc)

METHOD

1. Add the flour, salt, herbs & spices and bicarb to a large bowl and whisk to combine
2. Add the water and olive oil and mix until everything starts to stick together and form a dough
3. When you’ve formed a dough (you may need to add a little more water, oil or flour depending upon how dry or wet the mixture seems), place it on a flat and lightly floured surface, and knead for a few minutes
4. Once the dough is easy to handle and not too sticky, wrap it up and place in the fridge to cool for half and hour. This could all be done well ahead of time so you’re ready to cook straight away when needed.
5. When you’re ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 200C
6. Grab a muffin tin and turn it upside down, grease the bottoms of the cups (these are going to help form the shape of the taco shells)
7. Take the dough from the fridge and roll it out until it’s quite thin
8. Cut circles out of the dough that are a little larger than the bottom of the muffin tin circles (I used a wine glass which worked well, but a large mug or tumbler would be great too).
9. Slightly stretch the dough circle out in all directions and place it over the muffin tin base, mould it around the shape –  when it’s done it should look like a little basket or cup
10. Once you’ve done this with all the dough circles. lightly brush with olive oil or an egg wash (which’ll make it sort of shiny) and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes
11. When they’re done, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, then remove and use as crispy mini taco shells for your mexican feast!

Enjoy