ENCHILADA LASAGÑA - gluten free with dairy free options
You see what I did there?
You know, sometimes you just have to change things up a bit. I had made homemade tortillas for the first time with the intentions of making enchiladas. They turned out well for a newbie but, as I was pulling together my ingredients for the casserole, I had this idea to use them like lasagna noodles instead of rolling them up. Nothing like a little bi-lateral relations for our bellies, eh? I’m thrilled with the way it turned out and plan to do this again. Because there’s so much flexibility in the ingredients, this dish will accommodate lots of dietary preferences and your tastebuds will almost never get bored!
Servings: 8-10
Prep time: 1 hour for tortillas, 30 minutes for lasagna ingredients
Cook time: 45 minutes, baking; 15 minutes rest
Skill level: Easy
INGREDIENTS - CORN TORTILLAS
2 1/2 cups organic MASA HARINA
Dash of SALT
1 2/3 cups warm WATER
INGREDIENTS - LASAGNA
2 pounds GROUND BEEF
1 16 oz. can REFRIED BEANS
Chopped PEPPERS of choice (e.g., fresh red, yellow, orange bell; jalapeños or green chilis)
Sliced OLIVES of choice (e.g., black)
1/2 large ONION, thinly sliced
8 - 16 oz. SHREDDED CHEESE, NUTRITIONAL YEAST, or non-dairy CHEESE SUBSTITUTE
32 oz. favorite ENCHILADA SAUCE (green, red, or a combination)
SALT & PEPPER, to taste
OPTIONAL GARNISHES
Fresh LIME - zest and/or squeezed
Fresh CILANTRO, chopped
SOUR CREAM
Additional CHEESE, peppers, olives, onions for topping
DIRECTIONS - CORN TORTILLAS
Mix together tortilla ingredients, forming a smooth ball of dough. If it is too wet/sticky, add more masa harina; too dry, add more water - doing so in very small increments until the desired consistency is reached.
Break off into 16 - 18 pieces, about 2” each, and roll them into balls.
Place one ball at a time between two pieces of parchment paper.
Using a tortilla press or the bottom of a pie plate, press until flat, about 1/16 - 1/8”. A rolling pin can help to thin them out further, if needed.
Fry in a hot, dry skillet or on a griddle for a few minutes on each side. You’ll know when to flip it when it releases from the pan and it the color has subtly changed with a drier appearance. Hint: The pan/griddle is the right temp when a bead of water sprinkled on it bounces.
Set aside finished tortillas on a plate until ready to use. Properly wrapped, these can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.
DIRECTIONS - LASAGNA
Preheat oven to 350 degrees if baking right away.
In a large skillet, over medium heat, place ground meat and top with taco seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste.
Break up the meat and cook until just browned. Do not overcook and do not drain.
Add refried beans and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
Reserve about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and enough cheese to cover the casserole to your liking (e.g., a little cheese vs. extra cheesy)
In a 9 x 13 baking dish, pour about 8 oz. of enchilada sauce. Cover with one layer of tortillas. It is ok to cut or tear them to fit (don’t make them too small, though). They can touch but avoid large overlaps.
Top this layer with approximately 1/3 of the meat mixture, peppers, olives, onions, cheese of choice
Repeat layers (sauce, tortillas, meat mixture…) until all ingredients are used. If you have a couple of tortillas leftover, it’s ok - save them for another use. Top with reserved sauce and a final sprinkling/layer of cheese.
Either cover and refrigerate for a few hours until ready to use or immediately bake, uncovered in a preheated, 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until lightly golden and heated through. Allow to rest for 10 - 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Top with favorite garnishes, if desired. See Notes/Variations for suggestions.
Refrigerate any leftovers.
NOTES/VARIATIONS
As with many of my recipes, this one has lots of potential variations. Here are some suggestions to inspire you:
Swap ground meet for chorizo sausage, ground turkey/chicken, cubed chicken thighs, chicken tenderloins, or raw, peeled, deveined shrimp, seasoning and cooking as directed. You can also use leftover shredded pork shoulder or rotisserie chicken in a pinch. A combination of meats would also work well.
You can “ish” any of the measurements and adjust up or down to your liking. For instance, you may find that you want more shrimp or, you have extra leftover pork - might as well include it! Really love those peppers? Go for it!
Add or subtract ingredients. Don’t like olives? Leave them out, I won’t tell! Have some green onions on hand? Hey, that’s great - they’d make a nice garnish! Really want to be Tex-Mexy? Olé - add some corn! You get the idea!
Prefer a vegetarian/vegan version? Use veggies and/or extra firm tofu as a protein replacement. Just keep in mind that certain veggies (like zucchini) will give off liquid so you may have to adjust the amount of sauce so it doesn’t become too watery. Another option would be to partially cook them prior to baking (not too much or they’ll become mushy) so that they release some of their juices. Drain before using.
Want a dreamy-creamy version? Add a bit of preferred milk, sour cream, or plain yogurt to the sauce and mix well before putting it in the casserole. Start with 1 tablespoon and adjust from there. Dairy alternatives work well just make sure that they do not contain carrageenan or other undesirable additives. For instance, if you are purchasing coconut milk, the ingredients should read: coconut milk. That’s it.
Can’t “do” cheese? While the casserole is perfectly tasty without it, Violife brand of vegan cheeze is a surprisingly good substitute. It even melts a bit for that gooey texture. Some folks who can’t tolerate regular dairy do very well with goat’s milk or raw dairy cheeses. Most grocery stores carry at least a few options. If none of those work for you, and you still want that cheesy flavor, nutritional yeast is just that with the added bonus of naturally occurring B vitamins.
This dish is perfect for a party or as comfort food to bring good cheer!
Specifics on how I made this dish:
My corn tortilla recipe came out to 18 but I only needed 16 for this dish; I used this King Arthur recipe as a guide.
I did not have a tortilla press so I used a pie plate and a rolling pin. I cooked them in a dry skillet.
I tore my finished corn tortillas in half and changed the direction of them in each of the layers (one layer they were laid horizontally, one layer they were placed vertically) so as to offer full coverage and stability when cutting through the cooked casserole. This helped the pieces keep their shape when serving.
I used my homemade taco seasoning.
If purchasing enchilada sauce, be mindful that even organic varieties can have undesirable ingredients such as gums. While I’d love to have the time to make mine from scratch, we were very happy with Meijer’s Frederik’s brand. It was a quality product without anything unnecessary. I used 1 jar of the green and one of the red with delicious results.
Nutritional yeast gave this a nice flavor and kept it dairy-free. I just sprinkled it to lightly cover each layer. “Real” cheese was not missed!
I had made the corn tortillas in the morning, prepped the lasagna ingredients in the afternoon, and then assembled and refrigerated the casserole for a few hours until I was ready to bake it for dinner that evening. The consistency was perfect - not too watery and not too dry. If for some reason you feel your casserole needs more liquid, add a bit of broth or sauce a few tablespoons at a time.
In a hurry? Pop by the produce department at your favorite grocery store and look for pre-chopped peppers and onions then pick up (making sure to find ones that have the least amount of additives) enchilada sauce, sliced olives, pre-made tortillas, and cheese, if using. Add in leftover meat - even pot roast will work. This cuts prep time down considerably and the semi-homemade version will be far healthier than a pre-made, frozen casserole.
As articulated in the What’s for Dinner article, always aim for the highest quality ingredients.
CREDITS/REFERENCES
Thumbnail photo credit: Sombrero (1953)
Although I know that an enchilada dish made into a lasagna is not an original idea, I was truly inspired on the fly to change things up. I didn’t have a recipe to follow, I simply created as I went along using ingredients I had on hand.