Time
0 min
Serving
8 persons
Calories
414
This is a Mexican casserole that my Grandpa used to make every Thanksgiving and Christmas. The smell alone makes me feel like I am six years old and waiting for dinner to start. This recipe has been handed down from my Grandpa to my dad to me. The original recipe did not call for teaspoons or tablespoons, but with ounces and pounds. It can be made with or without chorizo. I prefer it with soy-based meatless chorizo substitute, which also makes it a good dish for vegetarians.
Ingredients
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- black olives: 1 can (6 ounce can, sliced)
- white vinegar: 0.5 cup (divided)
- vegetable oil: 1 Tbsp (optional)
- chorizo or bulk spicy pork sausage: 0.5 pound (optional)
- corn tortillas: 12 piece (7 inch, cut into 1-inch pieces)
- vegetable oil: 0.25 cup (optional)
- ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour: 1 piece
- tomato sauce: 3 cans (8 ounce cans)
- Mexican style hot tomato sauce (such as El Pato Salsa de Chili Fresco®): 1 can (7.75 ounce can)
- water: 1 cup
- ½ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder: 1 piece
- white sugar: 1 tsp
- white vinegar: 1 Tbsp
- oregano: 1 Tbsp (dried)
- taco seasoning mix: 1 Tbsp (optional)
- green Chilis: 1 can (4 ounce can, drained, diced)
- crumbled cotija or feta cheese: 0.75 cup
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Put chopped onion and sliced olives in separate small bowls and combine each with 1/4 cup of vinegar. Set aside to marinate. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chorizo, breaking it apart into crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes. Remove the chorizo from the skillet and set aside.
-
Heat 1/4 cup of oil in the skillet and add the tortilla pieces, cooking and stirring over medium-low heat until just beginning to get crisp and golden at the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and drain the tortillas; pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a saucepan.
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Heat the saucepan over medium-low heat until hot but not smoking. Add the flour, and cook and stir until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour in the regular and hot tomato sauces, water, browned chorizo, cocoa powder, sugar, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, oregano, and taco seasoning. Simmer the sauce about 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in diced chiles and tortillas. Simmer about 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until tortillas have softened and the mixture is thick.
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Drain the onion and olives. Spoon a layer of tortilla mixture evenly into a 2 quart baking dish or serving dish, and follow with a layer of about 2 tablespoons marinated onion, then a layer of 2 tablespoons olives, followed by a layer of 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice more. Serve hot.
