Egg & Cheese Arepas

📝 Ingredients

• 140 g pre-cooked white cornmeal (for arepas)
• 200 ml lukewarm water
• 2 tsp sunflower oil (1 for the arepas, 1 for the eggs)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tomato (about 120 g each)
• 2 spring onions
• 40 g grated cheddar
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Mixing bowl
• Bowl
• Non-stick frying pan
• Spatula
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. In the mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal with ½ tsp salt. Gradually pour in the lukewarm water, mixing with your hand, then knead for 2 minutes: the dough should be soft, smooth and not sticky. Leave to rest for 5 minutes so the flour can hydrate.
2. If the dough cracks when you press it, add 1 tbsp water; if it's sticky, a little cornmeal. Divide it into 4 equal balls, then flatten them between your palms into discs 9 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick. Smooth any cracked edges with a wet finger.
3. Heat 1 tsp oil in the frying pan over a medium-low heat. Cook the arepas for 7 to 8 minutes per side without moving them, until a golden crust forms. They're done when they sound hollow when tapped. Keep them warm in a tea towel.
4. While they cook, finely dice the tomato, removing the seeds, which would make the eggs too watery. Finely slice the spring onions, keeping the white and green parts separate. Beat the eggs in the bowl with a pinch of salt and some pepper.
5. Wipe out the frying pan, heat the remaining oil over a medium heat and fry the white of the spring onions with the tomato for 3 minutes, until the tomato has released its juice and it has almost completely evaporated.
6. Turn the heat down to low, pour in the eggs and stir constantly with the spatula for 2 to 3 minutes. Take off the heat while still a little runny: they'll finish cooking in the heat of the pan and stay soft.
7. Split each arepa open into a pocket with a knife, cutting three-quarters of the way through without separating it completely. Slip the cheddar inside, then the piping-hot scrambled eggs to melt the cheese.
8. Sprinkle with the green of the spring onions and eat straight away. To take away, wrap each arepa in foil: it stays warm and soft for about twenty minutes.