What?? Yessss….when Mexican meets Italian, the perfect international blend for open-minded dinner guests who adore delicious food! Introducing Red Bean Nacho Lasagne!
Sacrilege? Mmmm, it depends on who you talk to. Flavoursome? Absolutely!
Now before you query – I have not used Parmesan cheese. Why? To be called ‘Parmesan’ this specific cheese has to be produced according to traditional methods which use calf rennet, so it wouldn’t be a vegetarian dish. What is calf rennet? If you are a vegetarian, you may not want to know.
The exclusion of Parmesan, however, certainly isn’t a show-stopper when it comes to taste. This vegetarian dish is packed full of flavour just as it is, and with regular cheese.
Lasagne Sheets: Only use what you need for the recipe and the rest stores perfectly for another day. If you don’t have an Italian grandmother handy to whip some up for you, store-bought dried sheets are the next best authentic thing.
Red Beans: Straight from the tin and together a winner – refried beans and chilli beans would be my picking. Refried brings thickness to the sauce, and the choice of mild to blow-your-socks-off hot chilli beans are just a matter of preference.
Corn Chips: You won’t need a huge pack for this – a snack pack of corn chips will be just perfect unless you plan to nibble on them while you prep dinner. Alternatively, stale or broken corn chips at the bottom of the pack, are perfect!
Red Bean Nacho Lasagne
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil – Extra mild
- 1 tin refried beans
- 2 tins chilli beans
- 1 tin tomatoes (or one cup of savoury tomatoes)
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 50g butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- 1 cup + 1/2 cup grated cheese.
- Dried lasagne sheets
- a handful of corn chips
- sour cream, to serve
- salsa, to serve
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Over a medium heat, add oil to a frypan and saute onion for several minutes, until soft.
- Add refried beans, chilli beans, tomatos and red wine, stirring well to mix into a thick sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until the butter has absorbed it into a thick paste. Slowly add milk, half a cup at a time and, using a whisk, blend into the flour paste to create a smooth sauce. As it thickens, continue to add milk, stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Add salt, cracked pepper and cheese. Stir until well combined and the cheese has melted in the sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Lightly grease the bottom of an oven-proof dish. Lay dry lasagne sheets to cover the bottom. Spread half of the bean mix on top of the layer and top with crushed corn chips. Drizzle cheese sauce (approximately a third of what you have in the saucepan).
- Repeat with another layer of lasagne sheets, beans, corn chips and cheese sauce.
- Finally add the top layer of lasagne sheets, top with cheese sauce (which helps stop the top layer soften while cooking) and sprinkle with 1/2 cup remaining cheese.
- Bake for 40 minutes. Approximately half way through cooking time, gently cover with tin foil (as the top will be golden already).
- Serve with sour cream and salsa.
