Tortas can refer to many different culinary treats such as cakes and flatbreads, depending on what country you're in, but the torta we're going to explore now is all about the sandwich from Mexico. This delicious sandwich is not only incredibly versatile due to the numerous delicious items you can fill it with, but it's also a great weeknight meal the whole family will love.
Before you get started constructing your torta, there are some essential ingredients you'll need to procure. The first, and most important ingredient that's very specific to the torta is the type of bread you use. Look for Bolillo or Telera rolls. These are oblong, white sandwich rolls with a crispy crust and a soft center. You can generally find these rolls in most grocery stores in the bulk bread bins by the bakery. I like to lightly toast the bread in my toaster, but that's just an optional step.
The next ingredient to consider is the protein you’d like to use in your torta. Like I previously mentioned, the options are endless. Some popular choices are breaded and pan fried chicken or pork cutlets (a.k.a. milanesa), or chopped up carne asada. I wanted to lighten things up a bit, so I decided to grill a piece of salmon for our tortas.
For a family of four, I used a 1 1/2-pound piece of boneless and skinless salmon. I brushed both sides with a light coating of grapeseed oil, and seasoned the salmon with salt and pepper to taste.
I placed the salmon on my preheated stove top grill pan, and cooked it on the first side until the salmon had really nice grill marks, and released from the grill. I then carefully flipped the salmon over, and continued to cook the fish until it was cooked to medium doneness.
I set this aside on a plate to rest while I gathered the other torta ingredients. They included:
- Thinly sliced avocado
- Sour cream
- Sliced tomatoes
- Sprigs of fresh cilantro
- Thinly sliced romaine or iceberg lettuce
- Wedges of lime for squeezing over everything
- Your favorite hot sauce
- Smashed black beans with Mexican chorizo- gently sauté 1 link of Mexican chorizo in a saucepan until cooked though and crumbly. Add a can of black beans with the liquid. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, then, using a potato masher, smash the beans until you have a semi smooth mixture. Continue cooking the beans, stirring occasionally, until they are thick. Tip: These beans are not only great for tortas, but excellent for quesadillas, tacos, and breakfast burritos!
- We didn’t use these, but thinly sliced red onions, cabbage or crumbled queso fresco are all good additions, too.
You can assemble the tortas however you like, but I did have a method to my madness. I spread each bottom piece of bread with a shmear of the corizo laden black beans. Next, I layered on the tomatoes followed by the lettuce. Using a fork, I flaked the grilled salmon into pieces, and place that on the tortas. I topped the salmon with slices of avocado, a sprinkling of cilantro and a drizzle of hot sauce. On the bread tops, I shmeared the sour cream, and put the sandwiches together. I served the tortas with some cumin roasted potatoes, which was an awesome match.
Every bite of the torta was so savory and delicious! It had that awesome crunchy yet chewy element of the bread, the richness of the avocado, the creamy-spicy-porkiness of the chorizo beans, the cool, crisp lettuce, a bit of spice from the hot sauce and the smoky grilled flavor of the salmon. Yum! Once you try this sandwich, I guarantee this will be your go-to fish sandwich from now on.
Does talk of all of these delicious Mexican ingredients make you hungry and thirsty for more? You're in luck! Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, and The Chopping Block has several great classes to satisfy your cravings. On May 5th, we're offering our popular La Vida Loca class at each location; one in the afternoon at Lincoln Square and one in the evening at the Merchandise Mart.
Also on that day at our Lincoln Square location, we'll be running our Grilling Fiesta class on our outdoor patio. And if this wasn't enough, our Sommelier Christophe Bakunas, will be teaching his very special Spirits of Mexico class at the Merchandise Mart location. The class is in the afternoon which leaves you plenty of time to still go out after!
All of our May classes were released just this morning, so take a look through the whole month of classes to see what sparks your interest.
