Chili Pie

I love it when I completely flip one of my known dishes on its ear and end up with a terrific tasting alternative. Welcome to my newest creation – Chili Pie.

I have a “loose” recipe for Stacked Enchiladas, which basically is a take on lasagna – layering tortillas, meat with sauce and cheese, and I make it often because it is easy and delicious. I am almost certain that I blogged about this particular dish previously but I can’t find it in the archives. I’ll share the recipe next time so you can contrast and compare, and possibly follow my thinking on how I arrived at creating this one.

This Chili Pie is so easy! And it had to be because I was on the road for several weeks (hence no posts – very sorry about that), arrived home to a distinctly empty refrigerator and needed to make a dish to share at an event I was about to attend. So I did what I preach in this blog – I cooked out of my cupboards and the sparse findings of my fridge and came up with this dish in all of about 15 minutes.

Chili Pie

2 cans of your favorite chili (with meat, vegetarian, organic … you choose!)
½ diced onion, medium sized
4 medium sized flour tortillas
1½ cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Remove chili from cans into a mixing bowl. Add diced onion and stir thoroughly.

In a deep dish, pie plate, spread a couple of tablespoons of chili mixture on the bottom. Place one tortilla in plate; spread a third of remaining chili and sprinkle with a third of the cheese; repeat layers in this way, ending with chili and topped with cheese.

If you run out of cheese for the topping, grate a bit more. More cheese is always good!

Place dish in a preheated 400-degree oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.

Cut in wedges to serve. Garnish with sour cream or plain yogurt, a slice or two of fresh or pickled jalapeños and, if you have it, chopped fresh cilantro.

Honestly, you can have this dish assembled, baked and on the table in less than a half hour! A super delicious, fast meal for anyone on the go.

So, check in next week for my Stacked Enchiladas recipe, the inspiration behind this Chili Pie.

Eat well. Be happy.
Plynn