Tortilla Enchilad-ish Casserole

I wouldn’t say that Nigella Lawson and I have very much in common but one thing we do seem to share is a sensitivity toward how recipes are named. You will find something very much like this dish if you search for Mexican Lasagne which is, as Nigella points out, both lazy and incorrect. So I needed to come up with another name for what it is while also trying to give enough information that people will be able to find it. As time goes on I think I will rely a lot on the suffix “ish” for recipes like this because there is such a long list of things that are not quite what they are named.

Therefore, the title is descriptive in that it uses tortillas, is based on an enchilada recipe I use, and is actually a casserole that only resembles lasagne because it has layers. You could say lasagne is a casserole, actually, because you put things into a dish and put it in the oven but we don’t call it that because it is its own thing. You see the issue, I think. I’m going to do my best to stick to descriptive titles so I don’t continue to stay awake at night thinking about what really makes a thing a thing.

In this case, we ended up here because I love making enchiladas but there are times when I’m also lazy. Is rolling up each of the tortillas and placing them neatly side by side into the baking dish that much of a hardship? Depending on what kind of day you’ve had, it can be. On that day you don’t roll them up and instead you layer the whole thing and call it done. Then you realize it is easier to do it that way and you maybe don’t make real enchiladas much anymore. Maybe.

I prefer to be able to taste the filling so I don’t add canned tomatoes and use a tomatillo salsa instead of a standard tomato based salsa. We eat a lot of things that are tomato sauce based so when I can move in a different direction, I think it is appreciated all around. There is beef mince in here, as well but its just as good with the black beans only. Also, if you can find corn tortillas I think it is even better but flour tortillas work just fine.

Making

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6 servings

About an hour but 45 minutes if you don’t use meat

Ingredients

500g beef mince (optional)

1 red pepper, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

Juice from two limes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp oregano (or Mexican oregano, if you have it)

2 Tbsp ancho chili powder (if you don’t have this, you can substitute chipotle chili powder but use only 1Tbsp)

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

400g can black beans, drained

Salt and pepper

1 jar tomatillo salsa or salsa verde

300ml creme fraiche or soured cream

150 g cherry tomatoes, halved

Minimum 300g tortillas

180g shredded cheddar cheese

For serving

Fresh coriander

Jalepenos, fresh or pickled

Additional creme fraiche or soured cream

Instructions

Start by browning the beef mince so you can be chopping while that is happening. Put your largest pan onto a medium heat. If you have a non stick pan, there’s no need for oil but put in a tablespoon or so if you don’t have a non stick pan. Add the beef, spread it out as much as you can into a layer and then leave it for several minutes before moving it so it has a chance to brown.

While the meat has started, chop the RED PEPPER, GREEN PEPPER, ONION and GARLIC and put it in a medium sized bowl. Pour in the JUICE FROM TWO LIMES, OLIVE OIL, OREGANO, CHILI POWDER, SMOKED PAPRIKA. Give it a taste. If it isn’t hot enough for you, add some cayenne pepper until it tastes good to you. Same with salt and pepper. Mix that all together and set it to the side until the meat is pretty much browned.

Once the meat is pretty much browned, put everything in the bowl into the pan still on medium heat. I prefer the filling have some texture to it when it comes out of the oven so you only want to cook the peppers, et al for about four minutes so they still have some structure. Add the BLACK BEANS, stir through and cook for about two minutes, just so everything is warmed through. Turn the heat off.

Preheat the oven to 200C / 180C fan.

Assembly time! Take a deep sided baking dish and pour 1/4 of the jar of TOMATILLA SALSA in the bottom of the pan then a layer of TORTILLAS enough to cover the bottom. Tip: cut them in half and use the straight edge of the tortilla against the straight edge of the baking dish.

Put 1/3 of the meat and veg mix above the tortillas, spoon 1/3 of the CREME FRAICHE over that, scatter 1/3 of the CHERRY TOMATOES in that layer and some more SALSA. Repeat until you’re out of filling.

Scatter the top layer with the SHREDDED CHEESE and bake until it is golden and bubbly which should take between 25-35 minutes.

If you can let it rest for ten minutes when it comes out of the oven, that will help everything settle a bit but when people are hungry, they’re hungry so do what you need to do. Serve with some fresh coriander on top and some jalepenos if you like them.

Tags:Easy Good for a group