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MEXICAN LASAGNE

MEXICAN LASAGNE

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Serves: 8

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  • Gluten Free
  • Nigella Recipe
  • Vegetarian

This is a shorthand for Mexican-inspired ingredients piled up in lasagne-like fashion. In place of pasta layers, there are soft tortillas and in between them a riotous assembly of tomato, red pepper, onion, chilli, corn and cheese. You can see from the picture how snug the "lasagne" is in its dish. If you can totter towards the oven without spilling it, you're halfway there; but I advise you to put a baking sheet or swiss roll tin in the oven as you preheat to catch any drips that might fall later.  And talking of later, one of the joys of this is that it reheats, by the slice, so wonderfully on the days that follow. So do think about cooking this even when you don't have so many to feed first time around.

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Ingredients

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for the sauce

  • 1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
  • 1 onion (peeled and chopped)
  • 1 red pepper (deseeded and chopped)
  • 2 green bird's eye chillies (chopped with seeds)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh coriander stalks (finely chopped)
  • 800 grams chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
  • 400 ml water (swilled in empty cans)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

for the filling

  • 800 grams black beans (2 cans) drained and rinsed
  • 500 grams canned sweetcorn kernels (2 cans) drained
  • 250 grams grated mature goat's Cheddar (or cheese of your choice)
  • 8 soft flour tortilla wrap
KITCHEN

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KITCHEN

Method

You will need a round ovenproof dish, approx. 26cm diameter x 6cm deep / 10 inches diameter x 2¼ inches deep.

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400ºF, slipping in a baking tray at the same time.
  2. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan on the stove and fry the onion, pepper and chilli. add the salt and cook gently for 15 minutes and, once soft, add the chopped coriander stalks.
  3. Add the canned tomatoes, then swill the cans out with water and add this too. Spoon in the ketchup and let things come to a simmer, leaving the sauce (or salsa, in keeping with the Mexican mojo) to cook while you get on with preparing the filling – about 10 minutes.
  4. To make the filling, mix the drained beans and sweetcorn in a bowl. Add most of the grated cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on the top at the end, and mix together.
  5. Start to assemble the lasagne by spooning about a third of the salsa into the bottom of your ovenproof dish and smearing it about, then layer on 2 tortillas so that they cover the sauce overlapping slightly, like a Venn diagram.
  6. Add a third of the beans and cheese mixture, covering the tortillas, and then about a quarter of the remaining salsa and another 2 tortillas.
  7. Repeat with another third of beans and cheese, and some more salsa before layering on another 2 tortillas.
  8. Finally, add the last layer of beans and cheese, nearly all of the remaining salsa and cover with the last 2 tortillas. Spread the very last bit of salsa over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
  9. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, and let it rest for a good 10–15 minutes before slicing like a pizza.

Additional information - for gluten free use soft corn tortillas instead of tortillas made with wheat flour. For vegetarians make sure the cheese is made with vegetarian rennet.

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  • Yum Yum Yum it was a nice twist to the normal.

    Posted by LottieT on 1st May 2011 at 19.21

  • I cooked this the other night and it went down like a house on fire! I added some mince beef to the onion and capsicum mixture just to make it extra hearty. It tasted delicious and it was so filling that despite feeding 5 grown adults there was still more than enough left over for lunch the next day! Thanks Nigella

    Posted by laurat on 13th Jun 2011 at 12.18

  • I also throw in a kg of ground beef and use way more cheese. Last time I crush up about a 1/3 bag of multi grain tortilla chips and scattered that on top of the cheese on the top layer. Only problem was that the left overs I had hoped for my lunch the next day were dashed as my husband and two sons consumed every single piece. We are a family of four!

    Posted by quincytoo on 16th Aug 2011 at 1.38

  • We love this! It makes a lot, so I usually end of freezing half of it for another time (freezes great, BTW). The only change I make is leaving out cilantro/coriander leaf. Seems I was born with the gene that makes me go "ick" whenever it's in a recipe, so I don't bother. Seriously good stuff, though!

    Posted by littleredyarn on 1st Nov 2011 at 10.45

  • I'm another meat adder, although I usually add turkey mince rather than beef to mine, and serve it with a massive salad with avocado, baby plum tomatoes and leaves with a chilli-lime dressing. Leftover wedges are amazing for lunch to take to work as well!

    Posted by nicola_b85 on 5th Jan 2012 at 11.01

  • This is really easy to make and re heats brilliantly for a great lunch dish. Needs nothing more than a green salad for me!!

    Posted by T.K. on 2nd Aug 2012 at 10.56

  • I don't know what all these people are doing adding meat to this? It is perfect and surprisingly filling for a vegetarian meal. My carnivore housemates love it too, without added meat of course!

    Posted by jonathan.baker87 on 6th Aug 2012 at 11.44

  • This is one of my favourite vegetarian recipes. I make it at least once a month and all my vegetarian friends love it too. And the avocado salsa is just AMAZING. Yum all around. :)

    Posted by modtang on 2nd Oct 2012 at 9.09

  • I love this recipe... the tortilla layers make it a much lighter dish than a traditional pasta lasagne... so second helpings aren't too naughty... I also used veggie mince in the tomatoe sauce and fried some sliced garlic mushrooms separately to add an extra dimension when layering. Yum!

    Posted by Seetal on 20th Dec 2012 at 20.37

  • I make this as Nigella suggests and it a great meat free meal. Most people don't even realize they are eating a vegetarian dish!

    Posted by fifijames on 3rd Mar 2013 at 22.49