Butternut Squash Tortillas

This recipe will work with any vegetable or fruit that can be made hot, pureed or mashed, and then mixed with flour.  The pulp of the vegetable gives the tortillas flexibility, eliminating the need for shortening.   The tortillas are low fat, but contain sodium from the baking powder.   You may eliminate the salt if you wish.

Tools:

Mixing bowl large enough for all ingredients; flat cold work surface (granite is best, but I get by fine with an enamel counter top - wood is the worst); rolling pin (a strait-sided wine bottle, filled with ice water and corked tightly works great - again, you might find wood frustrating); a lightweight stovetop griddle (like a frying pan, but with low sides);  a means of steaming the squash (I use an ordinary metal colander which fits down into the top of my soup pot and the lid for the pot then seals the environment for whatever is being steamed); a large clean kitchen towel.

Ingredients:

(1) 2-pound butternut squash

3 cups of  unbleached flour

1 teaspoon of  baking powder (I prefer Rumford brand - it doesn't contain aluminum)

1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (sea salt tastes best)

Instructions:

In the bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Peel, seed and cut the squash into inch-thick pieces.  Steam or squash until it's easily squashed with a fork.    If you have to boil the squash, add more of the dry ingredients to compensate for the increased moisture.

Mix the hot squash and flour together.    When the flour and squash have come to share a nice, tolerable warm temperature, work it into a dough, mashing any remaining pieces with your fingers so they'll mix uniformly with the rest.  While kneading the dough, dust your fingers and the bowl surface as needed, to minimize the dough from sticking.

When you're satisfied that the dough is well mixed, cover the bowl with the towel, and put the dough somewhere warm to "rest" at least 20 minutes.   The longer it rests, the less likely it is to stick to other things, and the eating texture (what McDonald's engineers call "mouth feel") improves.

Separate the dough into 8 to 12 pieces and roll them out as flat as you like.   They don't have to be round; they don't have to be thin.  Experiment - you know what you like.   If the surface stays cool and the dough didn't turn out too gooey, the raw tortillas won't stick to the rolling pin or surface.   If you have sticking problems, dust the work area with flour as needed, and trade in your wood rolling pin for something cooler.

Get the griddle really hot.  Do not use any oil.   When you first lay a tortilla in, shake the pan to avoid sticking.   Soon the surface of the tortilla dries to a point where there is no way it will stick, but the secret is a good, hot griddle.   Flip or turn a few times until there are small brown spots on the tortillas.   Each one takes one minute, more or less.   If  loose flour starts to accumulate in the griddle and smoke, simply run a little water into the pan and swirl away the burnt powder.   Then let the pan reheat, and start again.

Lay the towel out in the bowl, putting the hot tortillas on top of each other in the bowl.   When they're all done, fold the towel corners over the tortillas, so they can cool slowly.   This lets moist parts of the tortillas soften up parts that got dried out, arriving at a happy tasty medium texture.

They're ready to eat as soon as they're cool enough.   Freeze any left over in plastic bags.   Reheat in the oven, on the griddle, or in the microwave.

By all means, experiment!   I've tried using room temperature bananas and adding hot water and ground walnuts (mmmm).   Strawberry was a little bland, but had great elastic texture.   Applesauce worked just fine.   Even rutabaga-caraway was tasty.   Spiced peach was appreciated by the squirrels.