Seriously Meatless: Tortilla Casserole
Note: Serious Eater Michael Natkin of the vegetarian blog Herbivoracious drops by every Wednesday to share a delicious recipe to expand our vegetarian repertoire.
Tortilla casserole isn't authentically Mexican, beautiful, or fancy in any way. It's simply a delicious, homey way to put a healthy and inexpensive vegetarian entree on the table. If you have kids, odds are it will be a hit with them too. In my family we like to put something like this together on Sunday night and refrigerate it, then bake and serve it for dinner early in the work week. That guarantees us at least one hot home-cooked meal even if no-one has time to cook.
The most complicated thing it asks you to do is dice an onion.
This recipe is for the basic tortilla casserole. The most complicated thing it asks you to do is dice an onion. You can embellish the basic recipe in any number of ways. For example, add finely diced zucchini or bell pepper, roasted poblano peppers, or corn kernels. You could also replace the refried beans with whole pinto or black beans, or add a tablespoon or so of minced chipotle pepper to the sauce.
If you have time, garnishes of crema (Mexican sour cream), fresh cilantro, and lime slices are nice. This dish provides a great opportunity to break out all of those hot sauces crowding your refrigerator door—everyone can doctor it up to their own preference of chile heat.
Tortilla Casserole
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
1 dozen corn tortillas (preferably a day or two old)
1 15-ounce can vegetarian refried beans (preferably not non-fat)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cups jarred salsa or enchilada sauce (mild/medium/hot as you like)
5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) grated Monterey Jack cheese
5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) grated cheddar cheese
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 400°F if baking immediately. Lightly grease a casserole (roughly 9x9 inches).
2. Lay down 3 tortillas, slightly overlapping, and then top with 1/3 of the refried beans, onion, salsa, and cheese (reserving some for the top). Make three layers this way, then cover with a final set of tortillas and the reserved cheese. You can stop at this point and refrigerate for 24 hours.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the cheese is bubbly and heated through, about 30 minutes (or 45 if it was refrigerated). Remove the top and attentively broil for a moment to brown the cheese. Serve with additional salsa and hot sauces.
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13 Comments:
The only time Rachel Ray's recipe actually impressed me was when she made a tortilla "lasagna". A similar recipe.
I like this one because its vegetarian
hungrychristel at 3:37PM on 10/14/09
in my house, where 'casserole' is a dirty word,
we call this dish 'white trash mexican lasagna'
andshewas at 4:36PM on 10/14/09
I made this last night. I put fresh corn in it, whole black beans, and used enchilada sauce. It was OK. (not the greatest)
Lisa
snacksnoop at 4:51PM on 10/14/09
I do something similar, but I usually add thinly sliced potato or sweet potato, corn, and often mushrooms and/or tomatillos. The vegetables are cooked with a can of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and a couple of chipotles, along with chili powder, cumin, and coriander to taste, and this mix is layered with the tortillas and cheese and beans. And it is awesomely good.
tariqata at 5:23PM on 10/14/09
I often make individual versions. I use three tortillas (softened first), two layers of different fillings, top the whole thing with a salsa or enchilada sauce and cheese and bake it.
Marls Barkley at 5:30PM on 10/14/09
@andshewas - LMAO perfect.
hungrychristel at 5:33PM on 10/14/09
i do something similar too... I just make a roasted tomatillo salsa and use textured soy protein instead of beans. Pumpkin seeds also add a nice crunch...
MadelynRodriguez at 6:57PM on 10/14/09
BF doesn't like cheese -- should I just leave it out, or try to replace it with something?
piccola at 7:49PM on 10/14/09
@piccola - does he eat any dairy? You could try a couple cups of bechamel (may need to adjust the amount of salsa)? Or maybe layer in some creme fraiche? One time when I made something similar I poured heavy cream over the layers (it was clean out the fridge day), which cooked down and thickened beautifully.
Amandarama at 7:39AM on 10/15/09
Could this be frozen, unbaked (or baked)?
Carioca at 4:22PM on 10/17/09
I haven't tried it, but my sense is that it would freeze (unbaked) just fine, and go straight from freezer to oven. Just make sure you allow plenty of time for it to heat through.
MichaelNatkin at 12:30AM on 10/18/09
I've made a version of this for many years, because I love enchiladas but was too lazy to individually roll them. It was inspired by a dish at a mexican restaurant where I went to college. I usually sautee broccoli, green peppers, onions and garlic, with some chili powder and cumin, then add the black or pinto beans before layering. It's easy, fairly quick to put together and pretty good for you.
karlaf at 4:17PM on 10/21/09
made mine yesterday, with black beans and salsa de chile guajillo, it was REALLY good. It's joining my dinner time rotation!
Carioca at 5:16PM on 10/21/09