Name: Tamale Pie
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 (15½-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 2 tablespoon purchased mole paste; ½ cup sliced green or black olives; 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, chopped + 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce from the can, or to taste; 1 (14½-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1½ pounds lean ground beef; 1 green bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed, and chopped; ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves; 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced; 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil; 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped; ½ cup golden raisins; Cornbread topping; 1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided; Tamale Filling

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cast Iron Cookbook

By Joanna Pruess

Published 2012

About

Growing up in Los Angeles, we ate a lot of Tex-Mex food. A friend of my mom’s—we called her Aunt Peggy—served a cornbread-topped casserole with spicy meat, beans, cheese, olives, and raisins at her patio parties. I’ve carried the memory of her tamale pie from my childhood. Judging by online bloggers, countless other people love the dish. I updated it with some authentic ingredients that probably weren’t available back then, like chipotles in adobo, mole sauce, and masa harina for tamales, t