Mexican Lasagne

Mexican Lasagna

For the Sauce

• 1 Tbsp 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 Tsp sea salt flakes
• 2 Tbsp fresh coriander stalks (finely chopped)
• 800g Chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
• 400ml Water (swilled in empty cans)
• 1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
• Dash of Kankun Habanero sauce

For the Filling

• 800g Black beans (2 cans) drained and rinsed
• 500g Canned sweetcorn kernels (2 cans) drained
• 250g Grated mature cheddar
• 8 Soft flour tortillas

You will need a round ovenproof dish, approx. 26cm in diameter X 6cm deep.

 Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, slipping in a baking tray at the same time.

Method:-

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.  Add the canned tomatoes, then swill the cans out with the water and add this too.  Spoon in the ketchup and Kankun Habanero sauce and let things come to a simmer, leaving the sauce to cook while you get on with preparing the filling (about 10 minutes).

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, mix together.

Start to assemble the lasagna by spooning about a third of the sauce into the bottom of your ovenproof dish and smearing it about, then layer 2 tortillas so that they cover the sauce, overlapping slightly.  Add a third of the beans and cheese mixture, covering the tortillas and then about a quarter of the remaining sauce and another tortillas.  Repeat with another third of beans and cheese, and some more sauce before layering on another 2 tortillas.  Finally add the last layer of beans and cheese, nearly all the remaining sauce and cover with the last 2 tortillas.  Spread the last bit of sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and let it rest for a good 10-15 minutes before slicing like a pizza.

This lasagna is great with a fresh crisp salad.  As an alternative you can make a chilli and add that to the lasagne as shown in the photograph above.

Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson