Roasted Red Onion & Potato Tacos

Tacos.

How, how, how have I never posted tacos before?

There is a simple answer.

It’s always been a little tricky to track down authentic tortillas in the UK. I mean, they have always been around, but unless you could get to Borough market or place a big online order, you were stuck with the supermarket brands which aren’t quite right.

But I recently discovered that Casa Morita, a Mexican restaurant in Brixton, is selling packs of their tortillas. And guess what? It is totally on my way home from work.

AMAZING.

Let the taco party commence.

Speaking of Brixton. The last tacos I had were at the Brixton food market.

They were everything that is good about street food. Inexpensive, simple, came in a polystyrene box, and a million times more delicious than you could have imagined.

I am sooooo annoyed because I forgot the name of the food stall and the exact ingredients in the tacos. They were potato and ??? flower. Maybe hibiscus flower? I don’t know. It was a purply, crunchy flower which went super crispy. I wasn’t paying enough attention. (Update! It was Maria Sabina! And it was totally hibiscus!)

Anyway. They were fantastic tacos.

One thing that stuck in my head was how they were not overloaded with guacamole and sour cream and all sorts of other toppings. Just a little salsa.

When I make Mexican food at home, I usually fall into the trap of overloading it with these cold toppings, because I really really love my guacamole, salsa and sour cream trio. Oh so much.

But this food stall didn’t do that, and the tacos were completely delicious. Lesson learned. Not every taco should be the same, so adding the same trio of toppings every time doesn’t allow you to explore the full range of options and flavors and approaches to this awesome meal.

So when I made my first tacos using my new pack of proper tortillas, I decided to take inspiration from that amazing food stall, and skip out on the guac and sour cream.

So. We have tortillas with a tiny sprinkling of manchego cheese melted onto them. Topped with roasted potatoes and red onions. Topped with a fresh pico de gallo.

Like so:

So simple. So delicious.

I can’t promise that using any old tortilla would be delicious though. I think you need to find an authentic corn tortilla, which carries a delicious flavor of it’s own.

That’s unlikely to be a problem if you live in the US, but if you live in a country that doesn’t border Mexico, you may need to put in some additional effort. Good luck! It will be worth it.

roasted red onion & potato tacos

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

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Ingredients

• 2 medium sized potatoes, chopped into small cubes
• 2 small red onions, chopped into cubes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 6 small corn tortillas
• A handful of grated manchego, or other hard cheese
• A handful of parsley or cilantro, if desired

For the pica da gallo

• 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped into small pieces
• 1 Tbsp finely diced white onion
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• Juice of 1/2 a small lemon

Instructions 

• Heat the oven to 210C / 410F
• Put the potato cubes and onion slices onto a roasting tray. Toss with olive oil and sprinkle with spices and lime juice.
• Roast on the top shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes, until browned and crispy.
• Meanwhile, prepare the pico de gallo by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Allow it to sit in the fridge until you serve.
• When the potatoes are 5 minutes away from being ready, start heating your tortillas. Place a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Using tongs, place a tortilla on the pan. After about a minute, you will get a nice toasty corn smell. Flip over and sprinkle some of the cheese on top. Once melted, remove from the heat right away and repeat.
• To assemble the tacos, cover the tortilla with a spoonful of the potato mixture and then some pico da gallo on top.
• Sprinkle with fresh parsley or cilantro.
• Dig in!

Author: Christine Melanson