Chilaquiles Tapatios -- A Pinedo recipe

It is time for another Encarnacion Pinedo's recipe!  (If you aren't aware of these, do a search for the keyword "Pinedo" to see more.)

My company was a guest taster for a previous Pinedo recipe, so I was confident that DB wouldn't mind me experimenting on him again.  I wanted something that said "Mexican food" and included chiles and meat.

What I decided on was Chilaquiles Tapatios, from page 57.  

The word "chilaquile" indicates a layered dish of meat and tortillas.  "Tapatios" indicates it is Guadalajara style in its makeup.  I believe that traditionally, chilaquiles are a breakfast dish but I was serving it as a main course at dinner.  This recipe does not include eggs, but chilaquiles often do.  

Today, most chilaquile recipes specify to either fry strips of tortillas or to use tortilla chips.  Miss Pinedo does not specify frying them here, although she directs them to be boiled in another recipe.

My Redaction

about 1 1/2 ounces dried chiles

boiling water

11 ounces pork chorizo

1.1 pounds boneless pork meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tomatoes, about 7 ounces before prepping, cut into about 1 cm pieces

6 or more corn tortillas, each about 5 inches in diameter, torn into pieces about 1 to 2 inches square

2 to 3 ounces manchego cheese, shredded

1/2 to 3/4 cup sliced black olives

The can of red sauce was for backup.  I didn't use it.

Toast the chiles in a dry skillet, turning them often.  (View this site for details.)  Remove the stems, tops, veins, and seeds and place in a heat-proof bowl.  Pour in enough boiling water to cover, and then let them soak for about 15 to 20 minutes.  

Put the chiles and some of the soaking water into a blender and puree them until smooth.  You should have about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chile puree.

Start cooking the chorizo in a skillet or big saucepan.  When it starts to brown, add the pork, tomatoes, and puree.  Stir well, bring it to the beginning of a boil, then turn the heat down to achieve a slow simmer.

Stirring occasionally, let the mixture cook until the pork is very tender, about 30 to 45 minutes.

On a plate with raised sides or a bowl, assemble the chilaquiles by starting with a scoop of the meat mixture, enough to cover the bottom.  Then put on a layer of tortillas.  Follow with another layer of meat, and keep going until the meat and tortillas are used up.  

Cover with the shredded cheese and top with the olives.

My Notes

I chose a mixture of Guajillo and California chiles.  They should add some heat but not a lot.  I know the chorizo adds some heat, too.

Here are pictures of my process:

Chorizo cooking, nearly done.

Pork in bite-sized pieces

Pork, chorizo, and tomatoes

With sauce!

Once the sauce was cooked, I put a ladleful in the bottom of my serving bowl.  Then I created the rest of the layers.  I wasn't sure how thick the tortilla layer should be, but I kept thinking about lasagna, so I kept it about two lasagna noodles thick.

First meat layer

First tortilla layer

Third meat layer

I chose to put a few tortillas over the top for contrast.

Three layers of the meat sauce was what I was able to make.  Notice I stacked the layers within the bowl, and I didn't try to fill the bowl from wall-to-wall.  I was surprised it stacked so nicely!

I put 6 corn tortillas in my redaction, I think I used about 2 1/2 tortillas per layer, with the last few pieces on the top.  If you want a thicker layer, use more tortillas!

I needed about 10 minutes before serving, so I popped it in a warm oven.

When it was time to serve, I put on a thick layer of cheese, and scattered the olives over the top.

Looks yummy!

The Verdict

I served it with a salad made of romaine lettuce, tomato chunks, pickled beets, croutons, manchego cheese, and a Caesar dressing.  A pinot noir was our beverage of choice.

My two guest tasters dove into the bowl.  (Not literally.)

I had to take a picture quickly, before it disappeared...

They enjoyed it!  I was pleased with the flavor of the sauce.  The chorizo added its special distinctiveness to it, so no other seasonings were needed.  The pork was tender but not mushy.  You didn't really taste the tomatoes -- they were a good background flavor.  

The feedback was that it was really very tasty.  In fact, the whole bowlful was finished off without any hesitation.  One guest taster wished it had more chile heat.  That would depend on the chiles you chose, and mine weren't too hot because my other guest taster is not used to that.  So one person thought the heat was just right:  some kick but not too much.  The other still liked it but wished for more.  I was fine with it.

The balance of flavors was right.  The tortillas near the top were a little chewy and contributed their corn flavor.  The ones near the bottom were soggier from soaking up the sauce.  I think the longer the layers stand before serving, the softer all the tortillas would get.  This is probably why modern chilaquiles recipes suggest frying the tortillas or using tortilla chips -- to give crunch and to reduce sogginess.

Success!

In retrospect, I would probably make the bottom layer of tortillas thicker, but not by much.  There is nothing wrong with them soaking up the sauce! The top layers don't have as much contact with the sauce, so I would keep them as I did them.

It seems best to serve this dish soon after assembling so nothing gets too soggy.