Tamale Pie
3 cups of pinto beans (I prefer homemade only - canned beans tend to be mushy and gelatinous)
1 small onion chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil
1 cup frozen corn
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1-3 dashes of tabasco sauce
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons of sea salt
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups water
1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2-1 cup soy cheese, shredded
Saute the peppers and onion in oil till slightly softened. Add tomato sauce, chili powder, tabasco, cumin, and salt. Cook at a low heat and stir constantly(be sure not to let the bottom burn). Cook until it has the consistency of wet oatmeal. Add the corn. Also, at this point you can add any leftover vegetables(cooked) you have. Remove from heat.
Combine cornmeal, water, oil, and chili powder in a sauce pan. Cook over low heat stirring with a fork until the mush thickens and sticks to the fork. When slightly cool, spread on the bottom and sides of a casserole dish. Pour the bean mixture over this and bake covered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with the soy cheese. Bake uncovered for another 10 minutes or until the soy cheese is thoroughly melted.
This is a great dish because it is high in fiber, low in fat. A complete protein main dish, and delicious!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This was pretty good! It didn't have a whole lot of flavor, but it was very simple and with a few adjustments could be so much better. I wanted something similar to tamales without having to steam them and such and this recipe did the trick.
I'll definitely be making it again, but changing it up a little. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was added a little more cornmeal to the mixture because I didn't think it was getting thick enough, I used a small whisk which eliminated any clumps. I agree with redfire that the mix needed salt (I actually added some, but not enough). And I also put half of the mixture on the bottom of the baking dish and the other half on top. It looked really nice!
I basically followed the recipe, but with no corn because we didn't have any and because I was in a hurry I didn't let the cornmeal cool and shape into a 'pie' so much as layered it like a casserole with cornmeal on the bottom, beans/onions/etc and more cornmeal on the top.
We also don't use vegan cheese.
I quite it, but would probably not use so much chilli powder if I made it again as it's really dominant and it would be good to taste some of the other flavours a bit more.
My husband wasn't overly thrilled with this dish either, but I do think I will play around again with this style of pie/casserole... : )
I used 1 can of black beans drained, no corn just because i forgot, added zucchini, tomatoes and garlic to the mixture. I also put another layer of cornmeal on the top. I baked at 350 for 40 minutes. The top layer of cornmeal was nice and crunchy but the bottom layer was a little soggy. Next time I would bake the empty cornmeal pie shell alone for 10 minutes or so and maybe cook the water out of the tomatoes. The cornmeal mixture also needed salt. I put biggish chunks of cheese under the cornmeal top crust and they sort of cooked together and the top layer is very yum!