Pastorta! or Southwest Shepherds Pie

Shepherds pie translates to pastor torta, according to google, but that is too dang long to say. Pastorta is my calogical way to say it. 

It is so yummy!

It's really filling, but not bloating. It's really nutritious, but also with enough carbs and fat to make anyone feel like they just ate something way to unhealthy.

Makes 2 13x9 pans, which I cut into 12 servings total. You could easily make smaller portions of this.

Ingredients:

1 box of organic cornmeal muffin mix (12 servings) and whatever you need to prepare the mix, probably a little oil and eggs.

1 mango

1 avocado

1 large can or 2 regular cans of beans (I like black beans)

1 can of refried beans

1 cup TVP dry, then rehydrated

2 green peppers

2 jalapenos

1 onion

4 large carrots

4 cloves garlic

1 jar hot salsa

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 can sweet corn

5-10 tomatoes

12 oz cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Dice the peppers, jalapenos, garlic, onions and carrots. Saute in a little oil over medium heat.

Add TVP and beans (not the refried), then stir in taco seasoning. Feel free to add more spices. Mine turned out a little on the bland side, despite the "super hot" salsa, jalapenos and "spicy" taco seasoning. Once it's all thoroughly cooked and the spices stirred in well, turn off heat.

In another bowl, mash avocado, refried beans, salsa, corn, tomatoes and mango. It's going to look gross. That's ok. Just roll with it.

In another dish, prepare the cornmeal batter.

Now to put it all together. I first put down a base layer of the cooked veggies/TVP/beans, spreading to the corners. I put the salsa goop over that. Then I spread the cornmeal mixture over the top.

Now, with the cheese, you can do what sounds best to you. I was far too lazy to get out the grater or food processor to grate the cheese, so I cut it into 1 oz rectangles, and stuck it in the middle of each future piece of torta. They spread out and melted very attractively, in my opinion, but I also ate a couple huge bites of warm gooey cheese with very little cornbread. As I love cheese so hard, it was ok with me, but you may want to grate it and integrate it into the dish a little more. 

Stick it in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Take it out, all nice and bubbling. Let it sit for a few minutes to cool off and set nicely. 

Enjoy! Delicioso! 

Just to clarify, this is by no means Mexican. Let's say it's Southwest inspired. Mexicatey, if you will. My own uneducated twist on Mexican food. Which I will never be able to cook, because I am more Chipotle than mom-and-pop burrito shop. I guess I'm just too intimidated.