Enchilada Pie V 2

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
2 (15 oz) cans Ranch Style Beans
1/2 cup thick salsa – homemade or use any kind you like, mild, medium, or hot.
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin powder
1/4 t Mexican oregano (not Mediterranean)
Pinch of cayenne, optional
10 corn tortillas
2 T butter, softened
8 oz Tex-Mex shredded cheese (10 oz is fine)
1/3 cup onion, chopped, optional

Optional: serranos, jalapenos, pickled hot peppers for layering to the dish or for adding at the table, avocadoes are wonderful served along with the pie, as well as salsa and cayenne. Make it as hot as you like.

Spoon Mage™ Notes:

The recipe fills a 2-quart casserole dish. If you are worried about a boil over, put a piece of aluminum foil on the rack beneath the casserole dish. Or make sure that the ingredients stay a good 1/2-3/4 inch from the top of the dish. This means that, sadly, you cannot add more cheese or use more butter… aluminum foil is cheap.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Brown the beef in a large skillet. If your beef was fatty, drain all but about 1 T or so. Some fat is good for the pie.

Add beans with their juices, salsa, chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, and cayenne if desired. Simmer for 15 minutes and then taste. Adjust seasonings.

While the meat sauce simmers, spray a 2 Qt casserole dish with your favorite non-stick spray.

Lightly butter one side of each tortilla.

Place 3 tortillas on the bottom of the casserole, overlapped, and butter side up. You can split another tortilla in half to fill in a gap on the side so that the dish is covered entirely on the bottom.

Top with 1/3 of the meat mix (approximately 3 cups for each layer). Just use enough meat mixture to completely cover the tortillas. Sprinkle with a little onion, if using. Then cover with 1/3 of cheese. If you want to add jalapenos, this is a good time to do so. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to form three layers.

Cover and bake for about 50 minutes in a 350 F oven until it is bubbly, brown around the edges, and hot. A terrific indicator of doneness is when a fork easily pierces the tortillas in the center.

Let cool, lid on, for 5-10 minutes. This lets the melty cheese and other juices stop bouncing about madly fighting each other. Peace makes an easier to slice up pie.

Serve at the table with a side salad and some avocado slices.