Rajas con Queso de Tamales is a tamal made with corn masa, stuffed with melty cheese and roasted peppers, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed naturally. These tamales will become one of your favorite Mexican recipes, and they are gluten-free.

About

Candlemas Day and Independence Day are also very popular celebrations and special events, similar to Christmas. Tamales, a staple in Mexican cuisine, are symbolic street food.

The recipe combines tamales with salsa and cheese, stuffing them with a mixture of rajas. Rajas, which are roasted strips of poblano peppers, are used in many traditional and modern recipes such as elote soup or crema con rajas.

When paired with atole or champurrado, these delicious rajas tamales possess a tender consistency and a subtly smoky flavor, making them an ideal choice to be served.

Ingredients

Amazon sells Mexican grocery items at Real Maza or Maseca stores, including brands that use the same type of corn flour to make tortillas. The flour is called Harina Masa.

It can be difficult to find options other than poblano peppers to replace. Although it is unique and delicious, the flavor of Mexican pepper is difficult to find outside of Mexico. However, tamales Rajas are traditionally made with poblano peppers. Poblanos Chiles.

To explore additional choices regarding cheese, please refer to the information provided below. I opted for Oaxaca cheese, although any variety of meltable cheese would be suitable for this particular recipe. Cheese.

Salsa. I utilized my molcajete salsa formula, but feel free to utilize any sort of salsa you favor.

Lard. Pork fat adds an incredible taste to tamales, but you can also replace it with olive oil, butter, or shortening.

Baking powder and soda. To incorporate a bit of airiness.

Water or chicken broth. To prepare the masa.

You can also find dried corn husks as a substitute for parchment paper at Mexican grocery stores or on Amazon.

Cheese substitutes.

Asadero (Mexican creamy cheese).

Queso fresco (Mexican cheese, it doesn’t liquefy).

Queso panela (same as above).Output: Panela cheese (same as above).

Monterey jack (or Pepper jack).

Primo Sale (Italian cheese, does not melt).

Fontina (Italian cheese, gooey).

Stretchy Mozzarella (not the one that comes in water).

Feta (a type of Greek cheese, slightly savory).

Substitutes for poblano peppers

Green capsicum peppers.

Friggitelli peppers (Italian peppers).

Anaheim verdant peppers.

Moroccan emerald capsicum.

Chinese peppers, also known as tiger skin peppers.

Place the corn husks in a spacious bowl and submerge them in lukewarm water.

Allow them to immerse themselves while you proceed with the recipe.

Prepare a steamer or large stock pot with a steamer basket. Fill the pot with water just before it touches the basket.

Make the rajas con queso filling

Cook the green poblano peppers using your preferred method (on the stovetop, barbecue, or in the oven).

Place them in a bowl and wrap them with a kitchen towel.

Take a 15-minute break and then peel the fruits. Remove the stems, open them up, and get rid of the seeds.

Slice peppers into slender strips.

Slice the cheese and put the salsa in a bowl.

Make the dough

Heat the lard in a skillet and let it cool without solidifying once more.

Gradually combine the water or chicken broth with the corn masa harina, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a spacious bowl, using your hands.

Blend together until you have a tender dough that doesn’t adhere to your hands.

Thoroughly blend and incorporate the dough with lard. You will obtain a slightly adhesive dough. Modify your dough with salt if necessary and now you can sample it.

Assemble the rajas tamales

Remove the corn husks and dry them thoroughly using kitchen paper towels.

Underneath the picture, distribute it over the top using the rear part of a spoon, position 2 spoonfuls of tamale batter in the center of a corn husk.

Add one tablespoon of molcajete salsa (optional) in the middle, then a few strips of roasted peppers and finish with some cheese.

Now, fold the right side of the corn husk to cover the center of the tamal, trying to cover a little bit more than half of the piece.

And then repeat with the opposite side, creating some kind of burrito.

Take the slender tip of the husk and fold it towards the middle.

To help prop up the tamales and fill in any gaps, use aluminum foil to wrap them up and place the tamal in an upright steamer with the side open.

Continue to follow the instructions until all the ingredients are used up.

Steam

When necessary, include additional water while periodically monitoring and cook the tamales de rajas for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, by placing a lid on the pot and heating the water in the steamer until it reaches boiling point.

Notes

Leave some space between each tamal because as they cook, they will expand and become bigger.

If you are unable to locate corn husks, you can utilize parchment paper sheets measuring 6×6 inches as substitutes.

If the dough doesn’t stick to the husk, let it cool slightly and remove a tamal from the steamer to check if the tamales with rajas are cooked.

Interested in making them vegetarian? Substitute the lard with olive oil, avocado oil, or your preferred vegetable oil.

How To Serve

Tamales de Rajas con Queso are commonly enjoyed either by themselves or accompanied by champurrado or atole. I highly suggest trying this uncomplicated Maizena atole or the guava-flavored atole.

You can actually serve sautéed mushrooms or red rice, or refried pinto beans with tamales if you’re looking for some sides. Additionally, you can also top them with salsa and Mexican cheese and cream.

How To Store and Reheat

Once cooled down, you can store tamales de rajas (still wrapped in husks) in a container with a tight lid in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 days.

Additionally, it is possible to keep them in a container and freeze them for up to 3 months. Prior to reheating, thaw the rajas tamales.

There are many ways to reheat tamales, but my favorite is to arrange the rajas de tamales in a steamer basket, add water to the steamer, and steam them for about 10 minutes. This way, they come out soft and freshly cooked.

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