The Cottage Kitchen: Tortilla Lasagna

The weather today has been that cold, drizzling rain most of the day - you look outside and give a little thanks that you're cozied up indoors with your loved ones and the fire's blazing, pottering around doing chores and watching either national geographic programmes about vampire squids or snoozing on the couch with a snoring kitty cat on your chest. The day definitely called for comfort food, and one of my favourite 'feel good' meals is lasagna.

This isn't a traditional lasagna by any stretch of the imagination, but it came about one day when I had decided in advance to make lasagna without checking my pantry before hand - no lasagna sheets, no diced tomatoes....you get the picture. I had the ground beef and vegetables and that was about it, so it was a matter of searching the pantry and fridge and throwing in whatever I found and whatever I had a craving for. Sometimes those are some of the tastiest recipes!!!

As usual, as I think I've mentioned before, even though there's only the two of us, this recipe will easily serve six, or even eight if you stretch it, but I'm a huge believer in leftovers and freezing so.....

Tortilla Lasagna
6-8 servings

1 onion - finely chopped
2 bell peppers - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 lb ground beef
1 large jar of favourite pasta sauce
3/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1 tsp chipotle Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
4 flour tortillas
2 cups cheese - grated

preheat the oven to 400 F.
in a large skillet over medium-high heat fry the onions, peppers and garlic in a little olive oil until softened.
add the beef and cook until no longer pink.
add all other ingredients except the tortillas and cheese, reduce the heat and simmer until liquid has reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes.
meanwhile trim the tortillas to fit into a deep 9x13 inch baking dish, and set aside ready for assembly of lasagna.
assemble the lasagna as follows: meat layer, tortilla, 1/4 cup cheese, meat, tortilla, 1/4 cup cheese, and so on, finishing with a cheese covered tortilla on the top.
place dish onto a baking tray to catch any spill overs, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.

oops....forgot the garlic and cheese in the photo - thankfully I didn't forget them in the lasagna though :)

nicely chopped veggies using my new ceramic knife - thank you hubby.

I just love the look and smell of onions, garlic and peppers cooking. It's the start of soooo many wonderful things.

break up the beef and saute until no longer pink.

once you've added the other ingredients give it all a good mix.

taste regularly as it's simmering and add or alter any of the ingredients to your personal taste. With the recipe above the Tabasco has a subtle kick and it has a slight sweetness from the ketchup.