Taco Casserole

I'm sorry.  There is no way ground meat photographs successfully.

When I was little, my mom joined forces with 3 other moms in the neighborhood and formed a casserole group.  Once a month each mom would make 4 casseroles that would be distributed to the other families.  In this fashion everyone would need to make 4 less meals throughout the month-a boon for busy moms with hungry families.  I think this club went on for about 6-8 years.  I don't remember it as much because I was the youngest, but my brother, when asked what his favorite food his mom made purportedly said "I don't know.  We just eat a lot of casseroles."

Out of all the casseroles that came our way the Taco Casserole is one of my favorites and one that we continue to make often.  Is is very easy to make and can handle substitutions and random ingredients and, like all casseroles, freezes like a dream.  If you try to image taco casserole, imagine it like a mexican flavored lasagna.  It has layers of corn tortillas, meat and sauce, and cheese.

I usually use ground turkey in this dish (and in most dishes that call for ground meat), because it is healthier and because I'm more used to using it.  You can use ground anything, including some type of tofu with Soyrizo if you wanted to go vegetarian on this thing.  If you have left over carnitas or other type of meat go ahead and use that too.

One you cook the ground meat stuff, you just dump in whole cans of stuff to make the meat sauce. You can use canned,  stuff from a jar, fresh, spicy, mild, a combination...whatever.  I like dumping in a can of sliced olives because I love baked olives.  You can add corn, extra chilies, more tomatoes-really, whatever you feel like adding to you taco casserole.  There is no need to drain the liquid out of canned items.  Part of the liquid cooks away as you cook the meat mixture, and part of it is needed to help keep the casserole from drying out as it bakes.

For the cheese layers, I prefer using cheddar or a "Mexican blend" (whatever that means), but you can use whatever you have on hand.  Pepperjack is really tasty in the casserole and I've used swiss as well, although it doesn't melt as nicely.  You can shred the cheese or if you are lazy you can just use slabs of cheese.

See?  You can do whatever you want with this casserole.  My mom is the queen of substitutions and using whatever she has on hand.  She has made this thing with substitutions such as chili verde, goat cheese, baked chilies, and even brie cheese once.  It is always delish.  Especially with more salsa and guac on the side.

Here are the general ingredients and instructions for the Taco Casserole.
For one 9x13 pan or 2 square pans
Ingredient families:
1 pound of meat, precooked or gound
1 jar/large can/ container of salsa.  More if you feel so inclined.
8-12 corn tortillas
2-3 cups of cheese, or enough to cover the layers.
1 diced onion or a handful of dried onions
Extras:
Can of chopped chilies
Can of sliced olives
Corn
Tomatoes

Directions:
If you are using raw ground meat then you need to brown it with your onions.  Remember to break apart the meat so it forms little clumps.  The first time I had to brown ground meat I was surprised that when you brown the meat it doesn't automatically break apart.  Lots of jabbing at the meat is usually necessary.

Once the meat is browned and in small pieces you can open up the cans of salsa and olives and whatever else you are putting into the sauce and just dump it in.  Simmer the mixture about 5-10 minutes, but you don't want to simmer the liquid away.

Make sure you spray or oil the pans you are using and then place a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom of the pan.  They don't need to overlap and gaps are fine.  Layer a third of the meat mixture over the tortillas and then cover with a layer of cheese.  Continue with another 2 layers of corn tortillas, meat mixture and cheese.

At this point your casserole is finished!  And ready to be popped in the freezer, heated in the oven, or wrapped for a gift.  I read somewhere that when you put foil on top of the casserole you should grease the part of the foil that is closest to the casserole so that when the cheese melts it doesn't stick to the foil.  I haven't tried this, but it makes sense.  If you freeze the casserole, wrap it in foil and then in freezer paper if you have it.

To bake this casserole:
Bake the taco casserole at 350 until bubbly.  I usually leave foil on it until right before I take it out of the oven and then I broil the top so the cheese gets nice and toasty.

If you froze the casserole and forgot to defrost it just stick it in the oven covered in foil right when you turn it on.  The preheating will help to defrost the casserole and keep your casserole dish from breaking if you used a ceramic or glass container.  It will probably take about an hour if your casserole is frozen.

If you think your casserole looks dry then you can add a half to whole cup of water before baking.

Serve with extra salsa and guacamole.  Sometimes we like to carbo load and eat it with more tortillas. Enjoy!