An unforgettable dish to die for! – Can be served to queens and heads of state or as a Ziti or a Mexican Lasagna Pasta Dish!
This dish really is far better topped with cream cheese and cheddar embedded with jalapenos which do something really so special for this dish! – I only had cheddar on first making this dish – I thought it would have looked far better with a Mozzarella topping but it didn’t as you can see below on following the original recipe the 2nd time around it left a pool of water on the bottom so do NOT add any liquid at all to this dish!
Now, look how sad it looks with a sour cream mozzarella topping and the water added in the original recipe – Do NOT add it! – See how it forms a pool of liquid on the bottom.
No water added and you can see it is perfect!
In the above picture, I used 400g cream cheese and 100g cream together with cheddar topping – You may also use my homemade greek yogurt or cream cheese and or a blend with part cream.
You may replace the pasta with my recipe for Malay Rotis which makes 7 – 8 rotis and serve these as wraps with sambal and Lotsa cheese or you may even layer them with lasagna sheets of the same weight as pasta for lasagna.
Ingredients:
400 g macaroni (or spaghetti), uncooked weight. boil 7 mins 1000 w
microwave & steep, stirring to prevent sticking until al dente
675 g beef mince
60 g butter
44 g taco seasoning (1 recipe of taco seasoning) See below
250 g tomatoes, own homemade (pureed)
480 g cheddar cheese
500 ml Sour cream but it is better with Greek yogurt or smooth cream cheese
1 egg
2 jalapenos, whole (deseeded) thinly sliced into rings (keep freshly frozen – easy to slice)
290g (1-2 small-medium) onions
3 garlic cloves (18 g unpeeled weight)
1 tablespoon chili powder (I used Kashmiri dried cayenne chili flakes
ground)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1.5 tsp cumin powder (freshly roasted). From roasted ground seeds
1 tsp salt ~ use it to crush the garlic
1 tsp black or green peppercorns, roasted (ground) I used half and half
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Taco Seasoning:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
7.5 ml cumin (powder)Dry roast whole seeds microwave at (4) 24-sec bursts in a wet cup until releases aroma, cool and grind to a fairly coarse grind in a coffee grinder.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (If you choose you may roast this too. The same method as above)
Warning! Do NOT add any water! – Sadly this recipe is no longer on the net. The site has been since taken down! Good thing I took an online snap!
Method:
Note:** Instead of tortillas you may use pasta, which is what I did.**
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Brown beef, drain and add chopped onions.
Cook until the onions start to look translucent. Add taco seasoning and water.
Simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, simmering until the sauce thickens
slightly. In a small bowl, beat egg and mix in sour cream and olives. Set
aside. Use a 9 x 13″ baking dish. Cover the bottom with a small amount of meat
sauce. Place a layer of overlapping tortillas, covering the bottom of the dish. Continue to
layer the sauce, with the sour cream mixture and 1/3 of the cheese.
Repeat these layers once more and top with green chilies, the final layer of
tortillas, and lastly with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or
microwave on high for 10-15 minutes. Baking is HIGHLY preferable. Let cool
for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
I used this recipe to put together my taco spice seasoning blend for this dish.
Tips: You may top this with freshly chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce,
sliced avocado which I felt was not necessary at all it is just delish as it is!
Top Quality recipe! If you own a restaurant you can serve it with pride!
Recipe source: www.foodpals.com Titled: Aunt Rita’s Mexican Lasagna