enchilada casserole

Last fall, one of my friends wrote in her newspaper column about an enchilada casserole that’s super-duper easy and serves as a catch-all dish for the random produce cluttering up the fridge. 

After I read the article, I sent her a barrage of questions. (You know me.) But she didn’t respond (turned out she was out of town), so I went ahead and made it anyway. People loved it, and then I made it again. (And maybe yet again? I can’t remember now.)

It’s a fantastic, simple, filling, tasty, EASY casserole that is perfectly suited for feeding a crowd cheaply and efficiently. If you’re not sure what to take to your next potluck, or what to make for supper mid-week, try this. I think you’ll love it.

There is one downside to this dish: it’s ugly as sin. Pre-baking, the mixture looks like a pile of sludge, and post-bake, it looks like, well . . . baked sludge. 

But then you sprinkle grated cheese over the top, bake it for another ten minutes or so, and it straightens itself out.

Moral of the story: Cheese fixes everything.

Plus, you can gussy it up with all the fixings — pickled onion, cilantro, hot sauce, avocado, salsa, sour cream — and by the time you’re done with that, it basically looks like a diva in heels. 

Baked Enchilada Casserole
Adapted from Sarah Beachy’s column in Lancaster Farming.

Before you start, let me run through the answers to your potential questions:

• No, there is no need for a leavening agent.
• In addition to topping with cheese, you can add cheese to the mixture itself.
• Fresh veggies like peppers and onions will lose their crunch in the oven. 
• As long as there aren’t too many watery vegetables (like zucchini) in the mix, the batter can be mixed ahead of time and then allowed to rest in the fridge prior to baking.
• Swap out some of the tomatoes for salsa or tomato juice.
• Browned sausage or ground beef could be added.
• For added flavor, grease the pan with bacon grease or lard.

The ingredients are endlessly customizable and amounts are suggestions. Swap out some of the chopped tomatoes for red or green salsa. If feeding vegans, omit the cheese. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.

Re the spices: more is better.

4 cups cooked red or black beans, drained
4 cups chopped, canned tomatoes
4 cups assorted veggies, chopped, grated, or mashed (corn, sweet peppers, onion, greens, sweet potato, winter squash, zucchini)
1½ cups maseca flour
Spices: cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, dried garlic and onion powder, oregano, salt, red pepper, etc. 
3 cups cheese, grated

Mix everything together (except the cheese). The texture should be like thick pancake batter, so adjust by adding more maseca flour or more liquid as needed. 

Pour the sludgy mixture into a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until the center is firm and the edges and top are brown. For this dish, over-baking is better than under-baking.

Remove the casserole from the oven, sprinkle with cheese, and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melty and golden.

This same time, years previous: ice cream comprehensive, the butter conundrum, the coronavirus diaries: week twelve, period, the quotidian (5.28.18), an evening together, the quotidian (4.28.14), spicy cabbage, the quotidian (5.28.12), one dead mouse, the ways we play.