Frito Pie - Southwestern Recipe
I was watching Weather Channel's coverage of storm Jonas. Temperature in our area was 65 degrees and I was in shorts and a light sweatshirt all day. Had to put a throw blanket on me while I was watching the storm cast. Thought it best to prepare a comfort food dinner to warm us up.
Decided on Frito Pie. No way I can cook a southwestern dish or Mexican meal without certified Hatch green chilies (Young Guns Farm) and/or certified Hatch jalapeños. The Village of Hatch is known for being the Chile Capital of the World. We tried imported chilies and jalapeños and those grown in AZ, CA and CO. Hatch products are the tastiest, hands down. We buy our green chilies in bulk in the fall. The stores have roasting cages and roast the chilies for you and place the peppers in a large food grade plastic bag. The aroma permeates the air and your mouth waters. We can also buy the chilies roadside at any one of the farms. Carting the roasted chilies home is the best because aroma is present in the car for a day or so. (Cook time includes estimated browning of meat.)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground meat (I use 92/8.)
- Fritos corn scoop chips
- 1 large onion
- Stalks of one scallion bulb
- 1 Poblano Pepper
- 12 oz of chopped green chilies
- 2 jalapeños
- 1 14.5 oz can of no sodium diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz (or 7.5 oz / whichever) can of your favorite tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 oz can of pinto beans (I forgot to soak the dry pintos so I bought canned while shopping.)
- 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp of Cumin
- 3 tsp of oregano
- 2 tsp of garlic and onion powder
- 3/4 tbs red chili powder
- half tsp of salt (plenty on the chips)
- Your favorite melting cheese
Directions
- Rinse the scallion, jalapeños. and Poblano Pepper.
- Cut off the stem of the jalapeños and using a corer, line the corer against the side of the pepper and move around the inside to de-vein and de-seed the peppers. Jarred or canned jalapeños slices might be an alternative if you cannot source fresh peppers.
- Chop the jalapeños, onion, scallions, and Poblano.
- Spread the tbs of olive oil in a rimmed pan big enough to accommodate all the ingredients.
- Heat the pan and pour the chopped ingredients into the pan. Sauté until they release their fragrances then add the ground meat.
- Breakup the meat and brown off. When browning, I incorporate sprinkles out of the spices out of their containers, just to add the first level of spicing.
- Once the meat is brown, add the diced can of diced tomatoes, pinto beans and tomato sauce. Set the burner to medium low and stir to incorporate.
- Once ingredients are well mixed, add all the spices and mix. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Turn burner off remove pan and place on hot plate.
- While oven is coming to temp, get a casserole dish big enough to hold the ingredients and add two layers of the Fritos. Then, pour in the pan contents.
- Place dish in oven once temp reaches 350.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Add enough cheese to cover the top, at the 8 minute mark.
- Remove at 15 minutes.
- Plate and mangia.
Adding to Planner
Nutrition Facts
| Amount Per Serving | %DV |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 166g | |
| Recipe makes 8 servings | |
| Calories 134 | |
| Calories from Fat 29 | 22% |
| Total Fat 3.28g | 4% |
| Saturated Fat 0.86g | 3% |
| Trans Fat 0.0g | |
| Cholesterol 3mg | 1% |
| Sodium 190mg | 8% |
| Potassium 358mg | 10% |
| Total Carbs 16.3g | 4% |
| Dietary Fiber 4.0g | 13% |
| Sugars 4.15g | 3% |
| Protein 10.81g | 17% |
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