Chili Relleno Casserole

Submitted by Chef Emstar

"Mmmmmm. One of my favorite recipes. Very labor intensive, but trust me, it's worth every minute."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 6 -8 large pasilla bell peppers (aka Poblano)
• 2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 2 cups sharp tillamook cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1⁄2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1⁄2 cup finely diced carrot
• 1 tablespoon chopped raisins
• 1⁄4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 - 1 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

• Batter

• 4 eggs, 2/3 cup flour, and 1 1/2 cups half and half or 4 whole milk, whisked together

directions

1. Roast the peppers on a gas grill or in the broiler until charred. Put them in a paper bag for 10mins to loosen the skin. Peel and seed them making one vertical slit so that you can lay the pepper out flat.
2. Sauté onion, garlic and carrot until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the raisins and walnuts.
4. Add spices and sauté about 1 minute more.
5. Add the meat and cook until the turkey is browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Grease a 9x11 casserole pan and layer the ingredients like a lasagna as follows: peppers, meat, cheese (both kinds), batter, peppers, batter, Monterey jack, tomato sauce, cheddar.
7. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 1hr covered. Remove foil and bake another 15mins until lightly browned and bubbly.
8. Serve with fresh sliced avocado.

Reviews

[Vicki in AZ]

This is really very, very good. I've made it twice. I did make some changes the second time only because we like things very spicy. I used a can of Rotel instead of the tomato sauce, increased the garlic to 2 large cloves and tripled the amount of raisins (used golden). The second time around I didn't have walnuts, so I skipped them and it was just as good although I missed the walnuts.

 

[catalinacrawler]

5 stars!! this recipe is fantastic! i left out the raisins but loved the crunch the walnuts gave..i might cut back just a tad bit on the cinnamon but my aunt might kill me, she told me she stopped eating the rest of her thanksgiving meal just so she could get more of this dish!!