Casseroled Chepil Tamales

María Concepción Portillo de Carballido, my first Oaxacan cooking teacher, introduced me to this satisfying dish. For those who don’t know the term sopa seca (“dry soup”), it covers a lot of dishes where starchy ingredients like rice, pasta, or in this case tamales absorb liquid. Tamales have great possibilities as a sopa seca—it’s worth making them just for this purpose if you don’t have leftovers. Double the recipe for a great party buffet dish.

Othe