Southwestern Recipes
Turkey Tamale Casserole
Tamale casserole is comfort food with a Tex-Mex twist. This all-time favorite typically features layers of ground meat, cheese, seasonings, and a cornmeal batter. In this simplified version, torn corn tortillas stand-in for the batter.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound uncooked ground turkey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14 to 16 ounce) can cream-style corn
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can chili without beans
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 1 (2 1/4 ounce) can sliced pitted ripe olives, drained
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
- Dairy sour cream (optional)
- Thinly sliced green onion (optional)
Instructions
- In a large skillet cook turkey and garlic over medium heat view turkey is no longer pink. Drain fat.
- Stir in corn, chili, oregano, cumin, and salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside.
- Stack tortillas; cut into 6 wedges. Place wedges in a medium mixing bowl; add broth or water. Let stand for 1 minute.
- Drain, reserving 1/4 cup liquid. Stir the reserved liquid and drained olives into the turkey mixture.
- In a 2 quart rectangular baking dish layer 2 cups of the turkey mixture and half of the tortillas; repeat layers. Top with remaining turkey mixture, spreading to cover tortillas.
- Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degrees F oven for 25 minutes or view heated through.
- Top with cheese; bake for 2 minutes more. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
- Top each serving with sour cream and green onion, if desired.