This recipe is based upon one in an old Mexican cookbook I’ve had for ages. Over the years I changed it to make it a lot spicier than the original which was too bland for me. It is a great casserole for vegetarians and makes either a nice side dish or main dish for Cinco de Mayo. It’s quick to prepare and even better, the sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, making it a fast dinner for the following day.
The recipe requires roasting green chilies. I use a combination of Anaheim and Poblano. If you have never roasted chilies, please try. The fresh roasted ones taste so much better than the ones in the can. When I first made this, only canned ones were available. We are lucky that now they are available in our supermarkets. When you select your peppers, do not use any that are wrinkled, pick the smooth shiny ones.
Ingredients for tortilla “dry soup.” (Photo by Patty Schied)
Ingredients:
12 corn tortillas cut into strips
1/3 cup oil
1 chopped onion (about one cup)
4 roasted green chili peppers (Anaheim or Poblano)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup either tomato puree or Rotel diced tomatoes with roasted chilies
Salt
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
½ pound grated Monterey jack cheese
2 tablespoons of butter
Tortilla strips after frying. (Photo by Patty Schied)
Directions:
Roast chilies. Turn the oven to broil and place an oven rack near the broiling element. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place the whole chili peppers on the pan. Broil peppers until the skins turn black. Turn them over with tongs to blacken the other sides.
Remove peppers from pan and place in a covered dish or brown paper bag. If using a bag, close the end to let the peppers steam for about five minutes.
When they are cool enough to handle, pull or scrape off the blackened skin with a table knife, then cut off the stems and split them open. Scrape out the seeds and discard. Chop the roasted peppers into dice and set aside.
(This is where I ran into problems): The peppers I purchased were way too mild. The problem with chili peppers is that you never know when you buy them how hot they are. I was totally flabbergasted. Most of the time, I have to set a pepper aside because it is too spicy. So taste the peppers. If they are too mild, use the canned Rotel tomato and chilies in place of the pureed tomatoes. If they are reasonably spicy, go ahead and use the tomatoes. You can also add some cayenne pepper to the sauce if it is too mild for your taste.
Fry tortilla strips in hot oil until crisp but not brown. Drain on paper towels. Lightly salt them and taste. Restrain yourself from sampling too many of them or there won’t be enough for the casserole.
Sauce for tortilla “dry soup.” (Photo by Patty Schied)
The Sauce:
Saute onion in two tablespoons of oil until soft. Add chilies, cream and tomato puree. Simmer for ten minutes then salt to taste. If too mild, add cayenne pepper, hot sauce or salsa until you are satisfied with the flavors.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a two-quart baking dish and cover the bottom with half of the fried tortilla strips. Pour over half the sauce and add half of the cheese. Repeat layers, ending with cheese. Dot with 2 tablespoons of cut-up butter.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until it begins to bubble.
If you don’t want a vegetarian casserole, you can add 2 cups of cooked, chopped chicken to the first layer.
Any leftovers can be refrigerated and microwaved the next day.
Serves four people.
• Patty Schied is a longtime Juneau resident who studied at the Cordon Bleu in London, has cooked meals for both AWARE and the Glory Hall, and has written a cookbook. She can be contacted at patschied@gmail.com. Cooking For Pleasure appears every other week in Capital City Weekly.
