Campfire Griddle Salvadoran Pupusas with Summer Squash, Cheese and Curtido

Make the curtido first, ideally the night before. Pour boiling water over the cabbage and carrot, wait 1 minute, then drain hard. Toss with the vinegar, oregano, pepper flakes and a teaspoon of salt, pack into a jar, and leave it at ambient temperature. It only improves overnight.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 cups masa harina
• 2 1/2 cups warm water, plus more as needed
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 cups shredded summer squash or zucchini (about 2 medium), squeezed dry
• 2 cups shredded quesillo, Oaxaca or low-moisture mozzarella
• 1/2 small onion, finely minced
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, plus more for the griddle
• 4 cups finely shredded green cabbage
• 1 carrot, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cups crushed ripe tomatoes, simmered 10 minutes with a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Make the curtido first, ideally the night before. Pour boiling water over the cabbage and carrot, wait 1 minute, then drain hard. Toss with the vinegar, oregano, pepper flakes and a teaspoon of salt, pack into a jar, and leave it at ambient temperature. It only improves overnight.
2. Squeeze the shredded squash in a clean towel until no more liquid runs out. Wet filling will split a pupusa every time.
3. Combine the squeezed squash with the cheese, minced onion and the oil. Set aside.
4. Mix the masa harina with the salt, then work in the warm water a cup at a time until you have a smooth dough with the feel of soft modeling clay. Rest it 10 minutes, then adjust: if it cracks when you press it, add water a tablespoon at a time.
5. Burn your fire down to a bed of even orange embers and set a flat griddle or comal on the grate about 4 inches above them. Wipe it with a lightly oiled cloth.
6. Keep a small bowl of oiled water beside you and wet your palms. Roll a golf-ball of dough, press a deep well into it with your thumb, spoon in a heaping tablespoon of filling, then pinch the dough closed over the top and roll it smooth again.
7. Flatten the ball between wet palms into a disc about 4 inches across and just under half an inch thick, patting rather than pressing so the filling stays sealed in the middle.
8. Griddle 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning once, until deeply freckled with brown and slightly puffed. A little cheese escaping and crisping at the edge is a good sign, not a failure.
9. Serve straight off the griddle with the curtido heaped on top and the warm tomato sauce spooned over.
10. Pupusas are the national dish of El Salvador and predate the Spanish arrival by centuries, cooked on a clay comal set directly over coals, which is exactly why they translate so well to a campsite. The curtido is not a garnish but a counterweight: its sharp acidity cuts the richness of the melted cheese, and the cabbage ferments happily in a jar without refrigeration. Late-summer squash, squeezed dry, adds sweetness without weighing the filling down.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 580 kcal
• Protein: 22g
• Fat: 24g
• Carbohydrates: 71g
• Fiber: 8g
• Sugar: 9g
• Sodium: 860mg