Molletes
One of Mexico's simplest breakfasts, and one that a single detail ruins: the crumb has to be hollowed out. Left in, it absorbs moisture from the beans and within five minutes the roll is wet inside and hard at the edges. A hollowed shell bakes evenly and stays crisp. The second rule: the salsa is raw and goes on after the rolls leave the oven.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Salsa 10 min
- Beans 8 min
- Baking 15 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMake the salsa and set it aside
Dice the tomatoes finely, discarding the seedy centres, and mix with the onion, chilli, coriander, lime juice and salt. Leave 10 minutes. The seedy parts are watery — left in they thin the salsa, which then goes onto crisp bread.
Ingredients: 3 pcs tomatoes · ½ pcs onion · 1 pcs green chilli · ½ bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime · ½ tsp salt
Fine dice, seedy centres removed.Hollow the rolls and butter them
Halve the rolls lengthways and pull out some of the crumb with your fingers, leaving a shell about a centimetre thick. Butter them. Hollowing makes room for the beans and stops the roll softening from within.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bread rolls · 250 g cheese · 40 g butter
A one-centimetre shell, crumb removed.Fry and mash the beans
Soften the onion and garlic in the oil, add the cumin and drained beans and mash them hot with a masher, adding 3 tablespoons of water, and season with salt. You want a thick paste, not a sauce — runny beans soak through the bread onto the tray.
Ingredients: 400 g black beans · 2 cloves garlic · ½ pcs onion · ½ tsp ground cumin · 2 tbsp oil · ½ tsp salt
A thick paste that clings to the spoon.Toast the rolls alone for five minutes
Put the buttered rolls in the oven for 5 minutes at 200°C before anything goes on them. A dried, toasted surface is a barrier against moisture from the beans — the same mechanism as with tomato bread.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bread rolls · 250 g cheese · 40 g butter
Add beans and cheese, then bake
Spread the beans over the rolls, cover thickly with grated cheese and bake 8–10 minutes at 200°C, until melted and bubbling. Switch on the grill for the last two minutes to colour the cheese in patches.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bread rolls · 250 g cheese · 40 g butter
Spoon on the raw salsa after baking
Spoon the salsa onto the hot molletes once they are out of the oven. Baked salsa loses its crunch and acidity, and it is exactly the contrast between cold, sharp salsa and hot, rich cheese that this dish exists for.
Ingredients: 3 pcs tomatoes · ½ pcs onion · 1 pcs green chilli · ½ bunch coriander · 1 pcs lime · ½ tsp salt
Before you start
Which roll
Mexico uses bolillo — an oval roll with a crisp crust and soft interior. A baguette or a French roll comes closest. A soft round bun is too tender and collapses under the beans.
The sweet version
Molletes dulces are the same rolls with butter and sugar, baked until caramelised. An entirely different dish under the same name — and in Spain mollete means something else again, a flatbread from Antequera.
Beans in advance
Mashed beans keep four days in the fridge and thicken. Warm them with a spoonful of water before use — cold and stiff they cannot be spread without tearing the bread shell.
