Taco Pie
From deep in the annals of Pinterest emerges a monstrosity of a recipe that only midwestern housewives and househusbands have pinned. A recipe that, until unearthed by the haphazard formula of the category board site, went unfound for millennia. A recipe so decidedly motley that it can only be summed up by crushing two very distinctly different food item names together.
Taco Pie
It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s pie, but with taco filling. Let’s make it!
First, you’ll need a pie crust. You can buy a frozen pie crust from the store, or you can follow this Serious Eats recipe which will make 2 pie crusts (for this recipe, you’ll only need one). You’ll need to do a blind bake before you add ingredients!
Crust Blind Bake Instructions
Whether you’ve bought a premade shell or you’ve rolled dough of your own, you’ll want to start by fitting your dough into a 9” pie tin
Add a lining of parchment paper on top of the dough and press into the corners. Make sure the dough is covered and add pie weights or another pie tin to hold the crust in place
Bake at 400ºF for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the crust start to brown. Remove from the oven and carefully lift off the parchment paper.
Next up, brown some meat!
Meat Ingredients
2 lbs. chorizo sausage
1 tbsp avocado oil (or another oil with a high smoke point)
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground ancho pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Salt & pepper to taste (I used 2 heavy pinches of kosher salt and about 8 grinds of freshly ground black pepper)
Half a red onion
Meat Instructions
Remove the chorizo from its casing, if it’s enclosed in a casing. Discard the casing. It’s yucky.
In a large pan, brown on medium high with a tbsp. of oil breaking it up into small bits as you go
Add the spices (paprika, ancho pepper, chili, cumin, cayenne, salt & pepper) and mix/stir into the meat until fully integrated
Once fully cooked and browned, remove from heat and set aside. DON’T WASH OR WIPE OUT THE PAN! It contains lots of good oils and spices and we’re going to use that to brown the onions!
Dice the half red onion and add to the pan
Cook on medium high until the edges of the onions start to brown
Add the chorizo back to the pan with the onions, mix them together, set aside.
And now, the rest of the pie
Ingredients
1/2 cup canned refried beans
3/4 cup Fritos corn chips (not crushed or anything, whole is fine!)
8 oz block cheddar cheese
Salsa for garnish
Sour cream for garnish
Cilantro for garnish
Jalapeno for garnish
Instructions
In the bottom of the blind baked crust, spread the 1/2 cup refried beans, covering the base of the pie crust.
Spread the Fritos evenly on top of the refried beans. Wash the smell off your hands. Apparently it smells like dog feet? (sorry, not my words)
Add almost all of the meat mixture to the pie crust. You should have approx 1 cup left over after filling the crust to the BRIM
Grate ya cheese. All 8 oz of it. Apply directly to the pie.
Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes.
When the cheese is melty and the pie is thoroughly cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing
Plate a slice, add desired amount of Salsa, Sour cream, Cilantro and Jalapeno. EAT
