Print the recipe page!  mexican tortilla lasagna

Many crock pot recipes work well in a wonder oven and this former crock pot recipe does exactly that.  It follows the same idea as Wonder Oven Lasagna that I posted a year ago, if any of you remember.   Also, if you don’t have a wonder oven, don’t worry, it can still be baked (the changes are in the notes section).

Again, this is a meal that takes longer to make due to the homemade tortillas (which in timing it, this step took an extra 30 min.) but the reward is that you end up with a family friendly meal that doesn’t taste like food storage.

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Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup freeze dried onion flakes (or one large onion diced)

3/4 cup freeze dried carrot dices (or 2-3 carrots diced)

1 cup water (to rehydrate the onion and carrot)

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1 (24 oz.) jar chunky salsa

2 (12.5 oz.) cans canned turkey, drained (*see note)

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (3.8 oz.) can sliced olives, drained

1/2 cup sour cream powder (rehydrated with 3 TBS water)

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chili powder

2-3 cubes Knorr cilantro seasoning (optional)

1 cup freeze dried cheddar cheese (with 1/2 cup cold water for rehydrating)

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Corn Tortillas

4 cups Masa flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 (15 oz.) can whole corn (I like Del Monte’s brand)

1/2 -3/4 cup water

1/8 cup oil

1 tsp. lime juice

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Tools and Supplies:

Flexible Cutting Mats (set of 4 — *see note)

paper towel (for rehydrating the cheese)

manual food mill (for pureeing the corn in the tortillas without electricity;  normally I’d use my blender)

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Instructions:

Making the tortillas:

Mix together masa flour, salt and baking soda.  Add in pureed corn (including the water in the can), stirring with a spoon and then 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water, mixing with clean hands until the dough is a good consistency.  Using your hands to mix in the water will make it easier to be able to tell if the dough is too wet or too dry.  Working with small to medium sized dough balls, press one dough ball at a time in between two flexible cutting mats.  After covering with a second cutting mat , use a rolling pin to press the dough into a thin uncooked tortilla.

Carefully remove the tortilla from the cutting mat by using a third cutting mat to loosen the tortilla.   After the top of the tortilla has been loosened, remove the top cutting mat and loosen the bottom of the tortilla in the same manner.  Slide the tortilla off the cutting mat to cook on a hot skillet to cook 10 seconds or so.  Flip over and cook 10-15 seconds on the other side.   Stack and set the tortillas aside to cool.

Continuing the recipe:

Rehydrate onions and carrots.  Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and salsa in a pot and heat over medium low heat (lidded to keep from splattering).  Drain and chop the turkey.  Whisk the sour cream powder with water and (separately) begin rehydrating the cheese.  After 5 minutes the cheese should be ready to blot dry.  While waiting for the cheese, combine the onions, carrots, turkey, spices, corn, olives and sour cream in a large bowl.

When ready to assemble, place a large skillet over medium low heat.  Pour 2 1/2 cups of hot tomato mixture (it should be slowly boiling) followed by a layer of tortillas, followed by a layer of half of the turkey mixture.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over top.  Spread another 2 cups of the tomato mixture, followed by another layer of tortilla and remaining turkey mixture.  Sprinkle another 1/3 of the cheese over top and finish by spreading the remaining 2 cups of tomato mixture and topping with a layer of tortilla.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over top.  Cover the skillet and heat over medium heat until the skillet and lid are both very hot.  Transfer to the wonder oven and cook a minimum of one hour.  Serve.

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Making the Tortillas

Puree the corn using a manual food mill, or (if electricity is available) a blender.  I first drained it here only because if using a food mill it would need to be drained first;  if using an electric blender/food processor just process all the contents of the canned corn at once.  Mix together dry ingredients.

Add in the water from the corn and corn puree, stirring in with a spoon.  Mix in water until dough is a good consistency.

Not too wet, not too dry.  Dough should come together easily when pressed into a ball.

Flatten the dough ball.  Using a rolling pin, roll to desired thickness between two flexible cutting mats.  For this recipe don’t roll them too thin.  Also,  you don’t need to worry about rolling a nice circular tortilla; anything will work.

Using a third mat, loosen the top of the tortilla.

Next, loosen the bottom of the tortilla in the same way, scooping up the tortilla as you go.

Slide the tortilla onto the hot skillet, cooking for 10-15 seconds on each side.  Be careful not to touch your cutting mat to the hot skillet or it will melt!  If it needs loosening again (though it shouldn’t need much) just use another cutting mat to help loosen and slide it onto the skillet.

Once cooked, the nice thing about this recipe is that at this point you’re done with the tortillas.  It really doesn’t matter if they’re oddly shaped because they’ll just be layered in the pan.

Continuing the recipe…

Rehydrate the onions and carrots

Heat the tomatoes and salsa over medium low heat.  (It’ll splatter, so be sure to put the lid on!)

Next, drain and chop the turkey.

Whisk together the 1/2 cup of sour cream powder and it’s 3 TBS of water.

Rehydrate the cheese (with cold water) and allow to sit for just 5 minutes or less.  Use a paper towel to blot out any excess water.

Once done, set the cheese aside.

In a large bowl, combine the the onions, carrots, turkey, spices, corn,  and olives.

Add in the sour cream and stir to combine.

Ready to assemble {hot tomato mixture on the stove, the tortillas, the cheese and the turkey mixture}.

Begin with 2 1/2 cups of tomato mixture on the bottom of the skillet, followed by a layer of tortillas and 1/2 of the turkey mixture.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese followed by 2 cups of tomato mixture and another layer of tortillas.

Spread all the remaining turkey mixture over the tortillas, topped by another 1/3 of the cheese.

Finish it with the remaining tomato mixture, a final layer of tortillas and sprinkling of cheese.

Cover the skillet and heat over medium heat until both the skillet and the lid are very hot (5-7 minutes).

Place into the wonder oven to bake for a minimum of one hour.

Cut and serve.

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Notes:

•  In making this without a wonder oven, everything stays the same except two things:  1)  you don’t need to heat the tomato mixture ahead of time and 2) it bakes for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Layer it using a 9 x 13 inch pan and in the case of using a sun oven I’d recommend heating the tomato mixture as directed using two stackable pans to bake it in.

• In an emergency (trying to conserve water), use the broth from the turkey to rehydrate the onions and carrots.

• Adding a can of beans (to the turkey mixture) would be an easy add-in if wanted, for those of you who like beans.