Tiresome, repetitive, cheerful food for lunch.
Tortilla pie again. This is so simple, and it packs such a wallop of satisfaction, no wonder it's in heavy rotation on the menu.
Just make sure you have tomato sauce in your freezer. Oh, it's the dead of summer where you live? Then cut up a couple of tomatoes (one big one might do) and give them a preliminary roast in a squirt of olive oil. What would be even easier is fetching a bag of cut-up, roasted tomatoes from last summer out of the freezer.
OK, that was the hard part. Do you have leftover roast chicken? No? But that's why we're making this dish! Never mind. You can skip the meat. What's essential is some chopped onion and chopped mild green chile (Anaheim or poblano), sautéed briefly in oil. (Oil makes this dish magic, by the way. The oil and tomato juices infiltrate the corn tortillas and you end up with candy. What I call candy, anyway.) And some cheese. Feta makes a dandy substitute for Mexican cheese. Just for once, because there were fresh specimens in the house, we added the cut-off kernels (uncooked) of one ear of corn. OMG.
Now, layer all this ambrosia. Some smarty pants topped today's version with slices of fresh tomato; so pretty. If all the tomato were raw it might be a little too juicy, but it is definitely good to have some juice.
Bake. Moderate oven. Half an hour.
Lather, rinse. Repeat.
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9 comments:
Gringo? Bingo! Sometimes trying too hard to be rigorously authentic deprives us of simple, flavorful yum. I like this California version and will try it. Gracias/thanks.
No beans? I'd miss the beans.
Kudzu: To be honest, it comes out different every time, but it's always the same. To think that the first tortilla casserole I tried came from that "rancho" lady at the Chron. It was made with canned mushroom soup and sour cream! I hope you have a happy version.
Zoomie: We tried it with beans, once, and it just ain't right. Too mealy, smeary, pasty. It's nice to have a little chicky meat in there, though.
Mexican Cheese? Dare I ask?
Mouse: Oh, yes! Cotija is the best example. Feta is a good sub.
That dish glows with tasty happiness!
Hey, Greg: Thanks, but I'm sure you know my little appy secrets. :)
Ahhh, that's ok then. Feta is wonderful stuff :)
Mouse: Yes, feta is a default cheese around here... though we are getting so many fabulous local boutique cheese makers these days.
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