Tortilla Pie with Chorizo

By marilyncardoza

Ingredients

• Two tbs of lard or vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 pound of ground pork
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground clove
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbs dry sherry
• 1 tsp caster sugar( I used brown sugar)
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 corn tortillas, freshly made or a few days old
• oil for frying
• 3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese or mild Cheddar cheese
• 1-1/4 cup of cream fraiche (I used sour cream)
• For the Tomatillo Sauce
• scant 2 cups of drained tomatillos
• 4 tbs of stock or water
• 2 fresh serrano chilies, seeded and roughly
• chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• small bunch of cilantro
• 1/2 cup of sour cream

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil or lard in a large sauce pan. Add the pork and crushed garlic. Stir over medium heat until the meat has browned, then stir in the oregano, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper. Cook for 3-4 min, stirring constantly then add the sherry, sugar, and salt. Stir for 3-4 min, until all the flavors are blended are then remove pan from heat.

2. Cut the tortillas into strips 3/4 inch wide. Pour oil into frying pan to a depth of 3/4 inches and heat to 375 degrees. Fry the strips in batches until crisp and golden brown all over.

3. Spread half the pork mixture in a baking dish.
Top with half the tortilla strips and grated
cheese. Then add dollops of cream fraiche (sour cream, heck I did a whol layer over the strips ) Repeat the layers. Bake for 20-25 min.

4. To make the sauce put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend except the sour cream. Save a little of cilantro for sprinkling. Process till smooth. Scrape in a sauce pan an simmer for 4-5 min. Let's
cut to the chase an speed the sauce thing up like I did. I bought 3 7 oz cans of Con Toda Confiana..es HERDEZ Chil verde sauce after reading the ingredients on back of the can as they were the same ones listed above.

Stir the sour cream into the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture on top of the ground pork and tortilla strips immediately and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with ice cold Corona and wedges of lemons and limes.