My Original Mexican Lasagna
As many of you know, I had an impactful experience while studying abroad in Mérida, Mexico, my junior year in college. Mérida is the capital of the Yucatán Peninsula, a state known for its cuisine rich in citrus fruits and chili peppers. While in Mérida, one of the meals my host mom often prepared was a regional dish known as chilaquiles. This casserole, as she prepared it, was heavy in fat, as the tortillas were fried in oil, and this dish was topped with quesillo, a soft cheese, and crema, a rich cream. When I recreated her recipe decades later, I found the heavy dairy drowned out the taste of the subtle sweet peppers. So, I set out to make a Mexican lasagna with its own sweet pepper sauce, layered with chicken and tortillas, and topped with just a dash of mozzarella cheese. Voilà! A taste of heaven!
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 cups My Mexican Lasagna Sauce, see recipe under Central American cuisine
- 1 x 1 lb. bag sweet peppers, like del Cabo Medley
- 8 soft yellow corn tortillas, like Tortilla Factory’s Homemade Tortillas
- 1 cup or more part-skim, shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- Sour cream to garnish
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Step 2 Second, wash the sweet peppers and chop off their tops, slicing each pepper in half. Then, coarsely remove any pith (the white lining) from the sweet peppers and dunk them in a bowl with water to rid of any bitter seeds. Place the peppers in a large mixing bowl.
- Step 3 Third, slice the chicken in thin strips or any bite size that you desire. Pat dry with a paper towel to ensure a nice sear, and season with salt. Reserve in a second mixing bowl.
- Step 4 Fourth, heat 2. T. oil in both a 10- and 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Then, add the peppers to the 10-inch skillet and the chicken to the 12-inch skillet. Let the chicken sit for 4-5 minutes to sear and then flip, waiting for another 4-5 minutes. Remove the chicken from heat and the peppers when they are tender and lightly charred. See photo above.
- Step 5 Fifth, assemble the lasagna. First, spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9 ½ x 13 ½-inch or smaller casserole pan. Then, lay a layer of 4 tortillas on top of the sauce (you may have to slice some of the tortillas to fit the space). Next, cover the tortillas with a layer of all the chicken and all of the peppers. Now, spread 1 ½ cups of sauce over the chicken and peppers. Then, on top of the sauce, add a layer of 4 tortillas—cut to fit—and spread the final 1 ½ cups of sauce. Sprinkle with a dusting of mozzarella cheese.
- Step 6 Bake for 35 minutes or so until heated through.
My Original Mexican Lasagna is a healthy adaptation of the traditional Mexican dish called chilaquiles. Here, a red sauce of tomato, onion, and sweet peppers is layered with chicken, tortillas, and peppers, and is topped off with mozzarella cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Nutritional Information: