My Original Mexican Lasagna Sauce
While studying abroad, thirty years ago, in the culinary city of Mérida, Mexico, I was introduced to a regional dish known as chilaquiles. Chilaquiles is commonly a breakfast dish, but can be served all day, typically made from fried tortillas, salsa, onions, and either chicken or eggs. However, the chilaquiles I sampled during my program had no salsa but a sauté of a plum tomato, a chile dulce (sweet pepper), and a spoonful of fried onions. In recreating this chilaquiles dish from my college years, I found the number of vegetables scant, so I increased the quantity of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Although inspired by this Mexican dish, I strayed from tradition, using Italian Pomì tomatoes because they’re naturally sweet and pair well with the chile dulce. And I substituted olive oil for vegetable oil, which was the fat they used. Along with these tweaks, I added another novelty, introducing a purée, instead of a sauté, having stumbled across the most delicious red sauce! This recipe has become my base for My Original Mexican Lasagna (see recipe in Central American cuisine).
Ingredients
- 1 x 1 1b. bag of sweet peppers, like del Cabo Medley's
- 1 x 26 oz. can chopped tomatoes, like Pomí’s
- 1 extra large white onion
- 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ¼ t. sea salt or to taste
Directions
- Step 1 First, wash the sweet peppers and pulse them in a food processor, if you have the luxury of having one, until they are diced. Reserve the peppers in a large mixing bowl.
- Step 2 Second, remove the outer skin from the onion and pulse in the food processor until diced. Otherwise, chop by hand.
- Step 3 Third, heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet, Dutch oven, or whatever pot that you have on hand that will hold all the vegetables. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Then, add the sweet peppers and sauté for 5 minutes. Finally, toss in the tomatoes and cook for another 20 minutes or until the peppers are tender and cooked through.
- Step 4 Fourth, let the vegetables cool for 15 minutes or so, and then, feed them into a blender. Blend until the peppers, tomatoes, and onions form a thick purée. Season with salt. Now you have the sauce for My Original Mexican Lasagna (see my recipe under Central American cuisine).
Thirty years ago, after my junior year abroad in Mérida, Mexico, I began to experiment with my own take on a regional dish known as chilaquiles. From a mix of sweet peppers, tomatoes, and onions, I stumbled across a rich sauce to use for my Mexican lasagna.