Prep: Dice the onion, grate the carrot and crush or finely slice your garlic. Optional: In a blender combine the diced tomatoes and the kidney beans and blitz until smooth.
In a large fry pan heat the oil over a medium heat
Sauté the onion and grated carrot until soft, fragrant and a little caramelised.
Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, and cocoa powder, sauté for one minutes.
Add the minced beef to the pan ad cook until browned
Add the beef stock, tomatoes, kidney beans and corn kernels, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (360 F).
Assembly
Make a thin layer of the Mexican mince in the bottom of a baking dish. (This stops the first layer of tortillas from sticking to your dish.
Begin your layering: Tortillas, Mexican mince, sour cream and cheese
Continue your layering: Tortillas, Mexican mince, sour cream and cheese
Continue your layering: Tortillas, Mexican mince, a scattering of any of your favourite colourful taco toppings, black beans, diced capsicum, jalapenos, diced tomatoes and cheese
Bake for 30 minutes until piping hot and the cheese on top is melted and golden.
Enjoy
Video
Notes
Serve your tortilla casserole with fun colour fun sides. Tortilla chips, ice berg lettuce, salsa, fresh cilantro/coriander, limes.
Not all of my family enjoy spicy flavours so my tortilla is not highly spicy, but I serve it with hot salta and Mexican sauces on the side for those who want a bit more heat.
Get out your scissors when you are building your tortilla casserole as you can take advantage of the tortillas soft texture and literally cut them to the right size to fit your baking or casserole dish.
Try the bean blending technique in other dishes, to works great in regular lasagne, or bolognese .
If you don't want to use a blender, and your family are not fans of 'beany' texture, another useful kitchen implement is your potato masher! mash the beans in the cooked meat sauce, it works great, whenever I make vegetarian nachos I use my potato masher!
Smoked paprika: This can be substituted for paprika if you can not find the smoked version.
Spices: The spice combination I use of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, chilli flakes, and cocoa powder can be substituted for your favourite store bought taco seasoning.
Minced beef: This recipe will work with minced beef or lamb. If you are using chicken mince or ground turkey please be aware these meats can be drier and you may need to add extra olive oil to the dish.
Kidney beans: I use canned kidney beans but you can of course use dried kidney beans that have been soaked and prepped. Pinto beans, navy beans or haricot beans all work as well.
Corn kernels: Frozen, fresh or canned corn kernels all work fine.
Tortillas: Any soft flour tortilla or corn tortillas can be used. This recipe will also work with your favourite wraps or mountain bread. If you need this recipe to be gluten free be sure to check the labels on the tortillas you are using.
Grated cheese: I use grated cheddar cheese, but any cheese that melts well will work well; colby, edam, monterey jack cheese