Tamale Pie

This is really good. It can be made with any meat or beans or combination of the two. It looks like a long process, but you will get it down once you make it a couple of times. Super easy.


Ingredients

2 cups or about 1 lb of meat, cooked (Can use beans or combo)
4-5 Anaheim Chilies (found some local hot-house grown...not bad)
2-3 Medium Tomatoes (I used some of my frozen summer tomatoes), quartered
3 Large Turnips, cut into 1 inch cubes (seasonal ingredient --can be changed out with anything)
1 Large yellow onion, quartered
2-3 Cups corn (can be frozen and doesn't need to be exact)
2 T cumin
1 8oz can of plain tomato sauce
2 T oregano
salt to taste
olive oil

1 C cornmeal
4 C water

Directions

preheat oven to 425.

Place chilies, tomatoes, turnips, and onion into a 13 by 9 baking dish. drizzle some olive oil over top and toss with your hands. Roast veg until cooked soft and browned, approx 30 minutes.

While the veg are roasting, boil water in a medium saucepan. Add cornmeal to boiling water, turn down heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside. (will harden as it cools--that's okay)

Place the roasted veg into the processor and pulse for 5 to 10 seconds, finely chopping all veg (not pureed). Or you can finely chop by hand.

In a bowl mix meat (and/or beans), roasted veg, corn, tomato sauce and spices. Pour into baking dish (use the same one you roasted the veg in). Pour cornmeal over top (if its cooled and hardened then just crumble it on top). Bake on 350 for 30 minutes.

Can be made in advance and baked later.