Mexican Lasagna

Tonight we had one of our stand-by comfort dinners. It's quite easy, not a lot of dishes and has lots of taste and veggies all in one nice tasty and spicy package! It's from the cookbook Eat Shrink and Be Merry and it's official name is No Weigh, Jose! Mexican Lasagna because the lean meat and abundance of veggies. Here's the recipe as we've tweaked it over the years:

1.5 lbs extra lean ground turkey

1 cup diced red or regular onions

1 cup diced green bell or pasilla pepper (or if we don't have one, some chopped up pickled jalepenos)

2 tsp/cloves minced garlic

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup frozen or canned corn

1 1/2 tsp chili powder }

1 1/2 tsp cumin }  we substitute these two with 1 tbsp or so of our taco seasoning

3 cups total of salsa and tomato pasta sauce - depending on what we have hanging around

Fresh ground pepper

Fresh minced cilantro if it's handy

4 tortillas

Grated cheese

Sour cream and green onions for garnish if you have them

You can easily vary the level of spiciness to your taste with the hotness of the salsa, tomato sauce, peppers and spices - you'll probably have guessed by now we use hot salsa, spicy spaghetti sauce, and an extra few scoops of taco seasoning! 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

You'll need a deep 9x9" casserole dish or if it's shallower than a 9x13" as well as a large non-stick pan or a skillet if you have one big enough. 

Start by cooking the ground turkey, onions, garlic and the green pepper if you have it.


Once the turkey is cooked through add the spices, black beans, tomatoes, corn.
Stir through and cook for another few minutes - until the corn is defrosted and heated through. 

Next add the salsa, tomato sauce, some black pepper and the pickled jalapenos if you're using those.
Stir through, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro as you turn off the heat. 

Next comes the lasagna part. Coat the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of your mixture so nothing sticks to your dish. 

I figured out if you cut the tortillas in half and put the flat sides to the edges you get really good coverage. So lay four halves on top of your initial layer. 

Put half the remaining mixture on top. 

And cover with 4 more tortilla halves. 

Add the rest of the sauce - it just fits in our 9x9 dish.

Add a layer of cheese to the top. Cover with tin foil and cook for 35 minutes at 375. Then remove the tin foil and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Once its done let sit for 10 minutes - that way it will hold together when you cut your pieces out.
And enjoy! It usually lasts us for several dinners and lunches as leftovers!