Pastel Azteca recipe

Immersing yourself in Mexico’s culture basically means eating until you feel dizzy and gaining many, many, pounds. It’s definitely one of the world’s most delicious cuisines, and this Pastel Azteca Recipe is a great example!

This Pastel Azteca or Aztec Casserole is our go-to dish when we have friends over; it’s easy and everyone likes it. If you want a vegetarian version, just replace the chicken with squash. It tastes just as amazing as the original!

Pastel Azteca Recipe

Ingredients

• 18 corn tortillas
• 2 pre-cooked & shredded chicken breasts
• 5 small red tomatoes
• 3 medium poblano chili peppers or 1/2 bag of frozen poblano pepper strips
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 L sour cream
• 300g shredded manchego cheese (you can use Monterey Jack or similar instead)
• 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
• 2 tbs Knorr Chicken flavor bouillon
• Salt & Pepper
• Cooking oil

Preparation

Poblano chili peppers

Note: if you buy the frozen poblano pepper strips, skip this step.

1. Put the poblano peppers directly onto the flame and let them sit there until the skin is completely burnt.
2. Store them in a plastic bag for a couple of minutes and wash them under the sink until all burnt skin comes off.
3. Slice them in fine small strips.
4. Set aside.

Tomato sauce

1. Mix in blender: 1/2 cup of water, tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt & pepper and Knorr chicken flavor bullion (add more Knorr if needed).
2. Set aside.

Tortillas

1. Heat up a frying pan on the stove. Once it’s very hot, fill its base with cooking oil and turn down the flame to the lowest.
2. On the hot oil, fry the 18 tortillas one at a time. Let them fry on each side for 10 seconds; don’t leave them longer because they’ll turn into rocks.
3. Pat the tortillas with a napkin to take off the excess oil.
4. Set aside.

The filling

1. On a large frying pan or wok, mix with some cooking oil the shredded chicken, the poblano pepper strips & the corn kernels.
2. Let the mix sit for about 5 minutes in low flame (moving constantly), and then add the tomato sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes.

The casserole

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC.
2. Grab a large pyrex (40x30cm) and start with a fine layer of filling. This will stop the bottom tortillas from burning.
3. Place 6 tortillas on top, add another layer of filling and spread a fair amount of cream and cheese on top. Repeat this step until you’ve used all the tortillas. End with a layer of filling, cream and cheese.
4. Cover the pyrex with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then, take off the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is slightly brown.
5. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

If you try this Pastel Azteca Recipe, please let us know!