Tequeños

Cook Time 2 hours 45 minutes

Makes 30

Ingredients

Dough

250ml milk

50g butter

20g canola oil (or any other neutral oil)

2 eggs

Tequeños

900g haloumi

725g plain flour, plus extra for dusting and wrapping

6g baking powder

40g sugar

12g salt

Method

Place the milk, butter and oil in a pot over medium heat till the butter is melted. Add all dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer or whisk them together by hand, and whisk to combine. Add the warm milk, then mix with the oil and butter in the stand mixer bowl, and add the eggs. Mix with the dough hook for 5–10 minutes until the dough is well combined.

Place in a bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or cling film, and rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Portion the cheese into sticks (we will be working with sticks of approximately 7cm x 1cm x 1cm)

Roll the dough using a rolling pin or a pasta machine to achieve a more even stretch. Section the dough into 4 equal parts, taking one aside and covering the rest to prevent drying.

Pass the dough through the pasta machine, starting on the widest setting, and dust with flour between passes until the desired thickness is achieved.

Roll the dough lengthwise, cut into 1.5cm–2cm thickness, and keep the rolls together; cover.

For wrapping, set your station with a small bowl with half a cup of flour and a tray to place the tequeños. Take a cheese stick, cover it with flour, dust off the excess, then wrap the dough lengthwise on both sides, then from the top to the bottom, spiralling and overlapping till completely covered. Dunk in the flour bowl again, shake off the excess and place into a tray. Repeat with all of them.

Fry the tequeños in neutral oil, aiming for 160°C–170°C, until golden brown (approximately 6–7 minutes).

Note: These freeze amazingly well if placed in an airtight container; they can also be cooked in the air fryer!

Note 2: The dough yield will be more than you need for 900g of cheese; the remaining dough can be stretched and used for Torrejas (the Venezuelan equivalent of Italian Crostoli), or, using a large round cutter, for wheat empanadas.