Frito pies are popular here in New Mexico, as well as in Texas and Oklahoma.
A frito pie is a simple dish, a pile of storebought fritos, with a red chile or taco filling poured over, the whole thing topped with the standard adornments of shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, grated cheddar cheese, onions, and a dollop of sour cream.
I may lose friends for saying this, but it is a dish vulnerable to criticism. It's chief virtue is ease of preparation. It is as good as the toppings, basically. The chief problem from my perspective is that it begins with Fritos. This means way too much salt to be either healthy or optimally flavorful. And it means you have to buy Fritos.
The frito pie arguably took its inspiration from a much older, traditional dish, chilequiles. Chilequiles were simply a way to use corn tortillas which had gone stale in a fashion both nutritious and delicious. In preparing chilequiles, corn tortillas were cut up, lightly fried, and combined with any of an astonishing array of ingredients and either served straight-up or baked. The fried tortillas, combining with the sauces and other ingredients, made a slow transition from still resistant and slightly crunchy to a wonderful savory sort of corn mush as the dish sat.
Chilequiles, then, are a wonderful way to use up leftovers, and allow a great flexibility in terms of ingredients, so you can control salt content, amount and types of fat, basically any aspect of the dish.
Chilequiles can be meat-based or vegetarian, and use either green or red chile sauces. Technically, I suppose, if there is no chile, it can't be a chilequile, but would be more a sopa seca. But outside the defining parameters of corn tortillas and chile, chilequiles is a dish which can be whatever you want it to be.
Here is a good example, a recipe for vegetarian chilequiles which can be made using local ingredients -
Zucchini and Potato Chilequiles
The Tortillas
2 dozen corn tortillas, stale preferably.
a splash of veggie oil
Cut the tortillas into strips about the size of frito chips. toss with oil and spread on a baking sheet. Toast in a 350 degree oven until the strips are dried out and maybe a little more golden. We don't need to get 'em crisp.
The traditional way would be to fry them, but we are trying to be heart-friendly.
The Filling
3-4 good size russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large calabacitas, mexican grey squash or zucchini, chopped into ½ inch squares
Olive oil
4 peeled cloves of garlic
A pinch of Mexican oregano
A splash of Worchestershire Sauce
1 Cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
a few grinds black pepper
1 tsp salt
Boil the potatoes until tender but not mushy. Put the squash in a skillet with enough olive oil to saute them. Add a pinch of mexican oregano and a chopped clove of garlic. Saute until tender but not mushy. Mash the potatoes coarsely with the sour cream, Worchestershire Sauce, 3 cloves of garlic run through a crusher. Leave the potatoes chunky. Add the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and the sauted squash and mix.
Assembly
1 recipe red chile sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese
Put half the toasted tortilla strips in a large baking dish. Spread the potato-zucchini mixture over them, put on the rest of the tortilla strips, pour the red chile sauce over all, and top with the cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for half an hour.
A frito pie is a simple dish, a pile of storebought fritos, with a red chile or taco filling poured over, the whole thing topped with the standard adornments of shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, grated cheddar cheese, onions, and a dollop of sour cream.
I may lose friends for saying this, but it is a dish vulnerable to criticism. It's chief virtue is ease of preparation. It is as good as the toppings, basically. The chief problem from my perspective is that it begins with Fritos. This means way too much salt to be either healthy or optimally flavorful. And it means you have to buy Fritos.
The frito pie arguably took its inspiration from a much older, traditional dish, chilequiles. Chilequiles were simply a way to use corn tortillas which had gone stale in a fashion both nutritious and delicious. In preparing chilequiles, corn tortillas were cut up, lightly fried, and combined with any of an astonishing array of ingredients and either served straight-up or baked. The fried tortillas, combining with the sauces and other ingredients, made a slow transition from still resistant and slightly crunchy to a wonderful savory sort of corn mush as the dish sat.
Chilequiles, then, are a wonderful way to use up leftovers, and allow a great flexibility in terms of ingredients, so you can control salt content, amount and types of fat, basically any aspect of the dish.
Chilequiles can be meat-based or vegetarian, and use either green or red chile sauces. Technically, I suppose, if there is no chile, it can't be a chilequile, but would be more a sopa seca. But outside the defining parameters of corn tortillas and chile, chilequiles is a dish which can be whatever you want it to be.
Here is a good example, a recipe for vegetarian chilequiles which can be made using local ingredients -
Zucchini and Potato Chilequiles
The Tortillas
2 dozen corn tortillas, stale preferably.
a splash of veggie oil
Cut the tortillas into strips about the size of frito chips. toss with oil and spread on a baking sheet. Toast in a 350 degree oven until the strips are dried out and maybe a little more golden. We don't need to get 'em crisp.
The traditional way would be to fry them, but we are trying to be heart-friendly.
The Filling
3-4 good size russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large calabacitas, mexican grey squash or zucchini, chopped into ½ inch squares
Olive oil
4 peeled cloves of garlic
A pinch of Mexican oregano
A splash of Worchestershire Sauce
1 Cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
a few grinds black pepper
1 tsp salt
Boil the potatoes until tender but not mushy. Put the squash in a skillet with enough olive oil to saute them. Add a pinch of mexican oregano and a chopped clove of garlic. Saute until tender but not mushy. Mash the potatoes coarsely with the sour cream, Worchestershire Sauce, 3 cloves of garlic run through a crusher. Leave the potatoes chunky. Add the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and the sauted squash and mix.
Assembly
1 recipe red chile sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese
Put half the toasted tortilla strips in a large baking dish. Spread the potato-zucchini mixture over them, put on the rest of the tortilla strips, pour the red chile sauce over all, and top with the cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for half an hour.
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