Cassava Root Tortillas

Are you familiar with yuca, or cassava root? It is the root from which tapioca starch is obotained. Cassava is widely used in South American, Asian, and African cousine. This starchy root is very versatile, with uses ranging from fries to cakes! It is relatively high in calcium, vitamin C, and phosphorous. But the main draw, in my opinion, is how delicious it can be when made into a dough.

I first saw the idea of yuca dough over on http://predominantlypaleo.com/ If you're looking for cassava dough ideas and tips, definitely check out her amazing recipes! Jennifer is the Yuca Queen! Once you have the dough making down, you can tweak it and use it for endless things, let your imagination run wild! Here I share my method for making yuca dough into tortillas. The texture and flavour is amazing! The closest thing to a wheat tortilla I have had yet!

One note before we start. The raw root contains some levels of cyanide. Don't freak out, you can eat it safely once prepared properly! It is concentrated most highly in the peel (which we take off) and neutralized by cooking. Just don't eat it raw! Most recipes call for boiling the cassava root & then proceeding with the method of cooking. This double cooking keeps you super safe! You may also be able to find bags of pre-boiled, frozen cassava (chunks or grated) in some stores. Try your Asian market. Feel free to sub this for the cassava in this tortilla recipe.
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Check out this adorable video of how to peel and boil cassava properly. The only thing I do differently is to cut it into smaller chunks (which cuts the boiling time down to about 10 min.).

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Cassava Root Tortillas

​Yield: 6 - 6inch tortillas
Equipment: Vitamix or food processor, parchment paper, rolling pin

Ingredients:

• ​2.5 cups cooked yuca chunks (peel, chop, & boil first. Then store in the freezer. You want to use defrosted, but still cool, yuca)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. pink salt (or sea salt)
• coconut flour, 1/4 cup plus more
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 400F.
• ​Place yuca, oil, & salt in your Vitamix or food processor. You will need to pulse then tamp it, pulse then tamp it, etc. Be patient. Stop and give it a stir once it starts to blend. You will keep blending until it is a sticky, dough-like texture. Try to catch it before it is too sticky (over processed), take it out just when it starts to look like a cohesive chunk of dough.
• Scrape dough out onto parchment lined counter. Sprinkle some coconut flour onto the dough & knead it in until you can handle the dough without it sticking to you. Use a little more coconut flour as necessary.
• Seperate dough into 6 equal balls. Roll each one out between two sheets of parchment paper and place round onto parchment lined baking sheet. (You should be able to fit 3 onto a sheet.)
• Bake for 8 min. (They will puff up, don't worry, that's good.)
• Preheat a frying pan on med with a little bit of the coconut oil. Once hot, fry each baked tortilla about 1 min. per side. Until it is starting to brown.
• Serve warm.
• To store for later, cool, then put your tortillas in an airtight container. If not using in a day or two, freeze them in a freezer bag with parchment or wax paper in between each one. Defrost at room temp.
• *Important* - Re-heat leftover or defrosted tortillas before using for better texture. Warm each side of the tortilla for 30 seconds in a hot, oiled pan. They will be as good as new!

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Tip: Make a double batch so you have more to freeze. Just make sure to process it in two batches or it will be hard on your Vitamix/food processor.

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Let me know what you think!

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