a Mexican torte

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte

This savory 5-layer vegetarian Mexican torte is spicy, full of flavor, serves 8 and makes a great meal. Serve with fire roasted salsa, guacamole and cold beer.

Yield: One 8" Pie

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte

5 layer Mex torte

This savory Mexican torte is slightly spicy, full of flavor, serves 8 and makes a great meal anytime. Serve with fire roasted salsa, guacamole and cold beer.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese - grated
  • 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese - grated
  • 1-28oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilies (try Muir Glen)
  • 1-14oz. can of pinto beans (you won’t need all of these)
  • 1 small can of corn, drained (you won’t need all of these)
  • Roasted red pepper diced or small can of pimentos
  • 24 Corn Tortillas cut into quarters –heartier tortillas like La Tortilla Factory’s organic corn tortillas work best
  • 3 large green onions, chopped
  • Cilantro, about 1/3 of the bunch, chopped
  • Cumin
  • Oregano
  • Thyme

Instructions

    First, preheat the oven to 350.

    Warm the beans with a bit of their liquid until just heated and season with cumin, oregano and thyme.

    Assemble the spring form pan, lining the bottom of the pan with overlapping tortilla wedges.

    Add a layer of tomatoes on top of the tortilla wedges. Add a sprinkling of cheese, green onion and cilantro.

    Add another layer of tortillas and a layer of tomatoes. Add the seasoned and drained pinto beans, being careful that the beans all rest in a single layer.

    Add a layer of tortillas, more tomatoes and a sprinkling of sliced green onion, cilantro and cheese.

    Add a layer of tortillas and tomatoes, corn, roasted red pepper and sprinkle with cheese.

    Add a final layer of tortillas, tomatoes, cheese and cilantro.

    Place the spring form pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until it’s bubbling.

Notes

The torte may leak through the bottom of the spring form pan. Bake on a cookie sheet with a raised edge. This torte keeps well in the refrigerator.

A 1/8 slice heats perfectly in 1200-watt microwave in 90 seconds.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 460Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 548mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 10gSugar: 2gProtein: 21g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

This savory 5-layer vegetarian Mexican torte is spicy, full of flavor, serves 8 and makes a great meal. Serve with fire roasted salsa, guacamole and cold beer.

In Marblehead, Massachusetts, where we were living at the turn of the twenty-first century, there was this fab lunch place in the old town section close to the Atlantic where a consistent daily special was a huge slice of Mexican torte.  Not to be confused with a Mexican torta, which is a sandwich, but a torte, a layered assembly of ingredients in a spring form pan.

This unlikely find, in this most unlikely of places, quickly became one of our favorite lunch stops. When you take a couple of chili head Texans who grew up eating Tex-Mex damn near daily, move them to California, introduce them to the Baja flavors of the Pacific coast, then ship them to the east coast, to Marblehead, the culture shock is palpable.

Marblehead, without doubt was one of the best little towns we’ve lived in. It’s the birthplace of the US Navy. Old men in rowboats, beached in the harbor, would sell little chickens (lobster) for five-bucks a-piece. Marblehead is home to some of the best deep-water sailing schools on the East coast and the place where I truly failed miserably as a deep-water sailor. I never could get past the feeling the Atlantic was trying to kill me.

The food was outstanding and we could eat lobster rolls and clam chowder all day long, but loving one thing doesn’t mean you don’t miss the other. So when we ran across this torte we were elated. It wasn’t spicy but we corrected that at the table and, since we’d never seen a Mexican torte before my wife Stella (so not her real name) said, “Wow, that’s a really great idea. I bet I can make this for us at home.”   And she did.


haley banner thin

The recipe evolved. We added some things we thought were missing, changed things we thought simply should never, ever, appear in Mexican food and arrived with what we consider our base recipe, a wonderfully savory vegetarian Mexican torte.

We add protein from time to time but honestly it’s only because we’ll have some leftover rotisserie chicken or maybe some left over pork roast. We find you don’t really need to add meat but still we talk about all the things we could add. I vote for chorizo; Stella swears barbacoa would be better. One to one, it’s a tie, one of us is going to have to give in and I know which one it will be.

This is actually very easy to make, visually stunning and perfect for lunch or dinner. Your dinner guests will “OOO” and “AHH” and ask for your recipe. Serve with iced Dos Equis beer, blue-corn tortilla chips, our fire-roasted homemade salsa – click this link for the recipe, sour cream and guacamole and top with a sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro.

Be creative when you make this recipe. Often we scour the fridge and freezer for leftovers to use. When we grill we frequently grill veggies, like red peppers, and freeze them for soups and dishes like this torte.

Buen Provecho.

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte 2

Yum

Savory Vegetarian Mexican Torte

Prep 30:00

Cook 25:00

Serves 8

Stuff needed:

One 8” spring form pan

Several bowls

Spoon

Sheet pan

Ingredients:

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese – grated

4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese – grated

1-28oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilies (try Muir Glen)

1-14oz. can of pinto beans (you won’t need all of these)

1 small can of corn, drained (you won’t need all of these)

Roasted red pepper diced or small can of pimentos

24 Corn Tortillas cut into quarters –heartier tortillas like La Tortilla Factory’s organic corn tortillas work best

3 large green onions, chopped

Cilantro, about 1/3 of the bunch, chopped

Cumin

Oregano

Thyme



Instructions:

First, preheat the oven to 350.

Warm the beans with a bit of their liquid until just heated and season with cumin, oregano and thyme.

Assemble the spring form pan, lining the bottom of the pan with overlapping tortilla wedges.

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte 3

Add a layer of tomatoes on top of the tortilla wedges. Add a sprinkling of cheese, green onion and cilantro.

Add another layer of tortillas and a layer of tomatoes. Add the seasoned and drained pinto beans, being careful that the beans all rest in a single layer.

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte 4

Add a layer of tortillas, more tomatoes and a sprinkling of sliced green onion, cilantro and cheese.

Add a layer of tortillas and tomatoes, corn, roasted red pepper and sprinkle with cheese.

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte 5

Add a final layer of tortillas, tomatoes, cheese and cilantro.



Place the spring form pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until it’s bubbling.

oven ready mexican torte

Note:   The torte may leak through the bottom of the spring form pan. Bake on a cookie sheet with a raised edge. This torte keeps well in the refrigerator.

Savory 5-Layer Vegetarian Mexican Torte 6

A 1/8 slice heats perfectly in 1200-watt microwave in 90 seconds.

Enjoy!





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