This is a really fun dish to make and serve. It’s great for parties or to bring to potlucks and it’s convenient. You can assemble it completely and then freeze it (let it stand at room temperature for one hour before baking as directed below). I like to make it in two round cake pans because it looks really pretty when you slice it. Use any saucy salsa that you like; don’t use pico de gallo, which is too chunky. Shredded Mexican cheese is a packaged combination of three to four cheeses, usually Cheddar, Monterey Jack, queso quesadilla, and asadero. It adds more complex flavor than a single cheese and melts really well. Of course, you can grate your own selection of cheeses, but I like the convenience of the pre-shredded and packaged version.
EVA LONGORIA’S LASAGNA MEXICAN-STYLE
Makes: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
Cooking spray for the cake pans and foil
2 lbs ground beef or turkey
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
10 flour tortillas
1 16 oz jar Pace Picante Sauce or other store-bought or homemade saucy salsa
1 16 oz package shredded Mexican cheese
1 8 oz container sour cream
2 4.5 oz cans chopped green chiles
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the beef, stirring and breaking it up with a spoon, until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Pour the chicken broth in a large shallow dish and add the tortillas. Soak about 5 minutes; you want them soft but not mushy. Set aside ½ cup salsa and 1 cup cheese.
- Place 1 tortilla on the bottom of each cake pan. In each pan, layer as follows: spread about 2 tablespoons of sour cream on top of the tortilla. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons chiles over the sour cream, followed by about ½ cup of the browned meat, 2 tablespoons salsa, and ¹⁄³ cup shredded cheese.
- Top with a tortilla. Repeat to make 3 more layers of filling. Finish with a tortilla on top. (You’ll have a stack of 5 tortillas and 4 layers of filling.)
- Divide the reserved salsa and cheese between the two pans, spreading the salsa to cover the tortilla and sprinkling the cheese to cover the salsa.
- Spray one side of 2 sheets of aluminum foil with cooking spray and place them oiled-side down over the pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling around the edges.
- Serve hot.
This recipe was originally published in Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends (Random House).
