I've made this twice recently, it's good hot weather food and it comes out differently every time so this recipe is just a guideline.
Save up the crumbs and broken pieces from several bags of tortilla or corn chips. It's good if it is a mix of different styles and flavors of chips. You should have about 1-1/2 cups of chips. If you use a fresh bag of Fritos brand chips, then it is Frito pie.
Fry some hamburger meat, about 3/4 pound or so, with onions, peppers and your favorite spices and some hot sauce. Drain the grease off the meat by letting it sit in a bowl lined with paper towels for a bit.
Put down a layer of chips in a pie plate or casserole dish. Put down a fairly heavy layer of grated cheese; cheddar, jack, asiago or something similar. Layers of cheese up higher can be thinner but this bottom layer is what holds the pie together.
Put down a layer of meat followed by more cheese, more chips, more cheese, the rest of the meat if any, more cheese, and top with the last of the chips and a final layer of cheese. Add chopped green onions or red and green pepper for color if you like.
Everything is already cooked so just bake for ten minutes or so at about 300 ºF to melt all the cheese. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for another five or ten minutes before slicing. Serves three to five people. Serve with a green salad and beans or rice with a bowl of salsa or some guacamole on the side.
Or eat it all yourself over three or four meals, it reheats wonderfully well. If anyone asks for a piece, tell them, "It's MY pie! It's naCHO pie!" :)
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
Reminds me of Mexican Lasagna
Instead of your tortilla/Fritos bits or lasagna pasta we use soft tortillas.
Also use things like ricotta or cottage cheese. Maybe a little real parmesan for flavor.
It is a reduced fat recipe that is pretty tasty.
From a South Beach Diet book I think.
Another variant uses tofu, instead of meat and sundried tomatoes to get that savory, uami ? -- taste. Think there is even spinach in it but it is not a quiche.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
With tortillas, we called it Taco Pie
That's good, too. And you don't have to have meat in them. I've made this with what is known in my family as chili beans; pinto beans cooked with all the spices for making chili but no meat.
Another variation is called Instant Lasagna and uses spaghetti or fettucine noodles and the filling can be meatless with just low fat cottage cheese. I've seen that one done with Ritz crackers instead of noodles and scrambled eggs with spinach as one layer of the filling.
It's all good. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.