Mexican Lasagna Recipe

I am not a chef, but I play one at home.  I have been blessed with the ability to make, what most people consider delicious, and the curse of a very picky pallet.  I don’t eat enough types of food to ever get me into the chef status as I don’t eat anything that swims or lives in the water; I hate vegetables (except corn and potatoes) and am repulsed by garlic.  Since I am a very selective eater, I had to experiment on the things that I do like and make creative dishes from what I love. 

This dish that I am going to be sharing my home made recipe is the combination of my favorite Italian dish being Lasagna and my favorite type of food being Mexican cuisine.  Don’t worry, I am not going to be putting Italian pasta sauce on some rice and beans and calling it a day.  I created this dish for me and my wife when we were sick of eating the same five things week in and week out.

What you need:

 

1.       2 lbs ground beef

2.       1 yellow onion

3.       Monterey Jack Shredded Cheese (at least one large packet)

4.       Refried Beans (canned or make your own)

-          I prefer La Preferida Spicy Chipotle canned refried beans

5.       Spanish Rice (Package or make your own)

6.       Ortega’s Original Taco Sauce – Medium (large bottle)

7.       Flour Tortilla shells

8.       Corn Tortilla chips

9.       Cheddar or Mexican Blend shredded Cheese

10.   Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend

11.   Glass 13 x 9 Casserole Dish (or whatever you have)

12.   Pam

 

How to make Mexican Lasagna:

 

First, cut the yellow onion in half.  Finley dice one side of the onion and then cut the other side into larger pieces.  Set the finely diced pieces of onion aside and place the larger prices into a skillet along with the ground beef to brown together.  The Beef will absorb a lot of the flavor from the onion into the beef giving it a greater taste in the end.

 

Drain the ground beef, take the large pieces of onion out and discard.  In a large pan, combine browned ground beef, Diced onions and entire bottle of Taco Sauce over medium flame and let simmer stirring occasionally.  Add in a few shakes of the Mrs. Dash spicy seasoning to taste (I put a lot in there; 20 shakes).  Let simmer for 5 minutes.

 

While the beef is simmering cook the Spanish rice and refried beans.  Nothing special about cook those, I use canned and a packaged Spanish rice that I cook in the microwave so…yeah pretty simple.

 

Putting it all Together:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Take your casserole dish and spray it with Pam.  Layer the bottom of the dish with the flour tortillas.  After you have covered the bottom of the dish with the flour tortillas, the next layer is the refried beans.  Use a large spoon to cover the flour tortillas completely.  Next spread the ground beef mixture on top of the refried beans (this will be a large layer, use the entire 2 lbs).  On top of the ground beef, place more flour tortillas on top as you did to layer the bottom of the dish.  Use the Monterey Jack cheese and cover the flour tortillas with a thick layer before adding a layer of Spanish rice.  Once the rice layer is complete, take the corn chips and strategically place them on top as a flat layer.  This is where your jigsaw puzzle skills come into play.  After you have created your top layer of corn chips like a puzzle, cover the entire top with Cheddar or Mexican Blend cheese. 

 

Cover the casserole dish with Aluminum foil and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

 

After ten minutes in the oven, remove from heat and let stand.  Here is where you think you would be eating this delicious dish…not yet.  No, the next step is placing the cooked Mexican Lasagna in the refrigerator overnight; trust me, it’s much better after it sits overnight.  The corn chips on top actually soak up the goodness from the dish / cheese making it soft.

 

Cut pieces out as you would lasagna, throw it in the microwave (3 minutes) or place in oven to warm and enjoy!  Depending on if you use the spicy chipotle refried bean, there will be a good amount of heat or spiciness that you get immediately so if you don’t care for spicy food, stick with the regular refried beans.

 

Serve with sour cream and Pico if desired.