Tamale Pie

[AshleyKimball]

Good recipe!  I used my favorite chunky organic salsa and it turned out beautifly.  Perfect size too!

[BeefEater]

WHOOOAAA!!!! This is a GREAT recipe! Very easy to make (even for a bachelor) and more delicious than you would expect. I thought I had screwed up the crust...but even that came out fine! This is a keeper!

[Ajiah]

 How many does this serve? I am a single veg, so it is hard to eat all the big dishes I make, and I don't like left-overs much.

 If it serves a lot, is there a way I could make it small enough for just me?

[BeefEater]

Ajiah: It doesn't make alot. I had half of the pie for dinner, and then ate the other half later that night as a snack (had been hoping to save the other half for dinner the next day...but it was too good to last that long!). So I'd say it serves one to two. (And it's just as good cold)

[saramichelle78]

I made this the other night & it was soooooo good, I mean one of the best new recipes I've tried all year. I subbed rotel for the salsa & 1/2 tsp. of cayenne for the chili powder & it was delish, even my meat luvin' grandma & sister loved it. We topped it with cilantro, green onions, tomatoes and sour cream, man it was good. There was only one serving left the next day and even though I wanted it I had to let my grandma have it, I think she wanted it even more! I will definitely make again, but next time I will double the recipe, Thanks!

[truliea]

We liked this recipe alot! I added a tiny bit of soycheese to the top. I used a really good chipotle salsa that is low in sodium. I added defrosted corn kernels to the cornmeal batter to add more nutrition than processed corn meal typically has. I also added some chopped swiss chard to the bean mixture. You always need to add some leafy greens to dishes. The flavors were good even omitting the salt. Too many recipes call for way too much salt which is even more dangerous for vegetarians who often get high blood pressure after years of high sodium.

[gi_julie]

Very good!  I recommend a little squirt of lime juice over the top of each serving once it's on the plate, it's really yum!  I subbed kidney beans for black beans, and my proportion of crust to filling was a bit different, and next time I'd probably use less crust in the ratio.  Oh, I also added corn kernels and chopped zuccini and skipped the carrots, as that's what I had on hand.   The cornmeal mixture was a bit tricky...it seems like two seconds after it starts to thicken up it REALLY thickens up fast!  Next time I'll be a little more prepared for dealing with that.  I wonder what it would be like to cook the cornmeal in broth instead of water....

[overcast_melody]

I haven't made this yet, but it looks like something my mom used to make (she put meat in it though). I suggest trying it with some chopped black olives, as well. Black olives tend to go well with this type of food.

[Lenorre]

so i've been wanting to try this recipe for a while but just haven't gotten there yet. i was wondering though, i have a ton of left over veggie chili with fake meat in it and wanted to know if it would be a good idea to do the same sort of thing but use the already cooked chili for the "filling"? does anyone know if that would work or will i just ruin it all?

thanks!
lenorre

[willwolf]

Lenorre, I think using your leftover chili would work well for the filling.  I don't think I've made this exact recipe, but when I've made similar recipes, I usually just put the cornmeal crust on top only.  (Another thing I like to do with leftover chili is make chili-mac.  Boil some macaroni noodles (or other pasta), while you heat up the chili.  When both are done, mix together.)

[Lenorre]

MMMMmmm!! YUMMY. it really added a little kick to the chili to have a cornbread/polenta type "crust" on bottom and top. because the chili was spicy enough, i added cumin to the crust mixture instead. so gonna be using this again...maybe with a sweet potato chili type filling...? maybe, we'll see. thanks for the recipe and inspiration.

lenorre.

[vegetativestate]

i was surprised this got great reviews because i thought it was very mediocre. the cornmeal to water ratio was off and made for a very thick corn mass -- difficult to spread. i like the idea though, so i'm going to tweak it:
use a 4:1 water to corn ratio and double the amount so i can make both a top and bottom crust (this recipe will only do that if you use a bread loaf pan)
bake it for longer so the softer corn mass will be able to firm up
use fresh ingredients rather than jarred. the salsa i ended up using was blisteringly hot and didn't have a very good flavor, which is essential here because that's the taste you're going to wind up with. next time i'm going to use fresh or canned tomatoes, fresh cilantro, onions, hot pepper, garlic, etc. i didn't really like the addition of the carrots so i'll probably leave those out.
anyway, so this recipe is okay, not great. i would highly suggest playing around with it.

[uhblondie]

I had some extra chili sitting around, so I made this with it. I spread the chili (about 2 cups worth?) in a pan, layered a few slices of vegan american cheese, and then covered it with the cornmeal mixture. I baked it for about 50 minutes, and the cornmeal stuff never really cooked all the way through - is that the way it is supposed to be? I ate it regardless and it was pretty good - like chili with crispy polenta. I highly recommend adding the vegan cheese. Thanks!

[pilatesveg]

so i had some leftover chili that i created (that was really good) and i put that on the bottom of the pan and added the cornmeal. i think i added too much cornmeal to the water, cause it was REALLY thick...then i had to make some more cause i didnt have enough to top the pan...what size of pan does this work for? anyways, hopefully it will be better next time...and there will be a next time.