Mexican Lasagna
Description
Brock made me some tortillas the day before (but store-bought corn tortillas are much more realistic), and I put the mushrooms through the food processor (with the onions and garlic) so that Waverly wouldn’t realize she was eating them. I really liked it this way, Brock would suggest either no salsa in the casserole – serve it on the side with sour cream – or maybe to put the salsa through a sieve and drain it a bit, he likes his tortillas crunchier. Having now made this several times, I think of it more as a ‘Chili Casserole’ – it’s also a brilliant way to use up any leftover veggie/meat bits from the fridge (1 pound of ground turkey is a regular thing). We enjoyed this with a green salad, and I borrowed the idea from Everyday Food.
Ingredients
Mexican Lasagna
12 corn tortillas, warmed
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb. white mushrooms, quartered (optional) – I more regularly use 1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 t. each salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 t. cayenne (optional)
1 can (19 oz/540 mL) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (12 oz/341 mL) kernel corn, drained
1 jar (650 mL) salsa (I used extra-mild for the girls)
1 1/2 c. grated cheese (I used a Monterey Jack/Jalapeno Cheddar combo) – really, you can’t have too much cheese
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 and spray a 9 x 13 casserole. In a large skillet, heat up a bit of oil and saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms (and/or ground meat) until they are softened and starting to brown (or there is no longer any pink showing). Add in the salt, pepper and cayenne and then the beans and corn, stirring well and cooking the mixture until everything is heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Arrange 4 tortillas in the prepared casserole – I found it easiest to halve 2 and use 2 whole ones for each layer. Top with half of the bean mixture, then a third of the salsa and a third of the cheese. Arrange another layer of 4 tortillas, then the rest of the bean mixture, a third of the salsa and a third of the cheese. Top with the last 4 tortillas, the rest of the salsa and cheese and cover the pan with foil.
Bake for about 15 minutes, then remove the foil and assess how long it needs to be warmed through – I did ours for another 15 minutes. Serve as you would and enjoy!
- Category: Beans, Mexican, Lasagna
