spanish poblano casserole

Did you plant any peppers this year? Are you now slammed with so many that you don’t know what to do with them all? Am I the only one?

My kids have brought in so many bowls of pepper that it’s kinda ridiculous. I’d forgotten what I’d planted — turned out to be bells, bananas, and poblanos. We ate a bunch in salads, and my younger daughter and I fried up multiple batches of mixed peppers and onions which we then divided into small portions to freeze for winter soups, spaghetti, and beans (a kitchen hack which is so freakin’ handy that I may have already plowed through a large portion of my supply, oops).

ANYWAY. When one of my girlfriends admired my giant bowl of peppers, I said help yourself. So she did, but she took only the poblanos — all the poblanos. Why just the poblanos? I asked. Because I have a special dish that uses poblanos, she said. (And actually, back then we were calling them “anchos” but now I’m pretty sure they’re poblanos. See above comment about not knowing what I planted.)

A couple days later when the next giant bowl of peppers landed in my kitchen, I texted her. 

Me: What’s that pepper recipe you were going to make?
Her: Layer of peppers covered with Spanish rice, beans, corn, cheese (you could add meat), and baked. 
Me (a couple days later): What’s your Spanish rice recipe?
Her: Last time I sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic with cumin, turmeric, salt. Then I added already cooked rice. You can also dump all that with the uncooked rice and water in the rice cooker.

And then I was off.

One thing I did differently from my girlfriend’s recipe: I blistered my poblanos in my birthday Ooni (more on that later!) to give them a charred, smoky flavor.

There is so much ooh la la in this photo that I can hardly stand it.

Alternatively, you could blister them over a gas flame, or under the broiler, or just use them fresh, uncharred. As you like it!

I’ve actually made this recipe twice now, both times serving it with sour cream and salsa. The first time my family was kind of befuddled. Like, they thought it was good but didn’t know what it was (at which point I realized that I don’t often make casseroles, ha!) and kinda tiptoed suspiciously around it, asking questions and making suggestions, such as: 

*top with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and onions 
*avocados would be good!
*more beans
*serve with corn tortillas or tortilla chips
*lime wedges

Clearly, they were digging the Mexican vibes.

Even though my whole family ended up scarfing this casserole (when we had it for family night supper, my older son had four giant servings), certain kids picked out the large pieces of pepper. I get it, actually: large chunks of pepper are kinda daunting (though they’re silky soft and cut easily). But the reason my girlfriend recommends leaving them in big pieces is because every now and then, she says, you get a pepper that’s wildly fiery and it’s nice to be able to just pluck it out. However, I have only encountered one chunk of spicy pepper in all my poblano casserolling, and it wasn’t very spicy, so if you’re feeling brave, go ahead and rough-chop the poblanos and just sprinkle them over the bottom of the pan.   

I think this casserole might make for a good freezer meal. In fact, I have one in the freezer for the family to eat while I’m gone, so I’ll have to check in with them later to see how it turned out and then report back. 

I don’t have any photos of the finished casserole, but here’s a photo of our supper club …

… to which I contributed this casserole, along with homemade sour cream and fresh corn tortillas.

Spanish Poblano Casserole
Adapted from my friend’s texted recipe.

For the pepper layer, feel free to use whatever peppers you have on hand. Also, I did not measure my ingredients for the Spanish rice; just do whatever feels good.

6-10 fresh poblanos 
3-4 cups Spanish recipe (see below)
1 pound crumbled sausage, cooked
2 cups of corn
4-5 cups of beans
a few cups of grated cheeses, such as Pepper Jack, Mozzarella, Feta, Cheddar, etc.

to make the poblanos
Wash and then char, if desired (this step can be done ahead). De-stem and de-seed the poblanos, cut in half (or rough-chop them), and spread them over the bottom of a casserole pan. Drizzle with olive oil.

to make the rice
Heat some oil (or sausage grease, bacon fat, whatever) and toss in a couple cups of uncooked white rice along with some — all of this is optional — chopped onion, pepper, tomato, and minced garlic. Saute until the rice is toasty. Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, a couple teaspoons of ground cumin, some chopped fresh cilantro (if you have it), a teaspoon of salt, and some black pepper and stir. Transfer the toasted rice to the rice cooker, top with the proper amount of water or chicken broth, and cook.

Spread a layer of rice over the poblanos (you probably won’t use all the rice, just FYI), followed by the cooked sausage, the corn, the beans, and then a couple cups of cheese. Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, add a couple more cups of cheese, and bake, uncovered, until the cheese is melty and toasty. 

Serve the casserole with salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, and fresh hot corn tortillas. Other optional condiments: black olives, chopped green onions, picked red onions, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, fresh cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips, and lime wedges.

This same time, years previous: gingerbread to build with, simplest sourdough bagels, show and tell, the quotidian (10.12.20), the relief sale of 2019, English muffins, a weekend away, soiree!, peanut butter fudge, a list.