Chile Relleno Casserole

What can you eat with a Mexican chile relleno casserole?

Since this is a popular breakfast/brunch dish, you can serve it with homemade tortillas or hash browns. For lunch or dinner, it’s often eaten with Spanish rice, pico de gallo or black beans.

How do you serve chile relleno casserole?

Fresh from the oven, these slices of creamy cheese, meat and pepper are great with a cooling sour cream dip, fresh salsa or tangy tomato or tomatillo salsa. Scatter some fresh cilantro on top too for color, with a squeeze of lime just before serving as a pleasant introduction.

How do I spice up chile relleno?

Some people will expect a dish called chile relleno to be spicy. If you don’t want to disappoint them, you can sneak some sliced jalapeno peppers into the pepper layer and add cayenne pepper, chili powder and paprika to the meat mix.

Ingredients

5 poblano peppers
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 large eggs
1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1-1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
Optional: Sour cream, salsa and cilantro

Directions

1.Place peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 4 in. from heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes. With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in a large bowl; let stand, covered, 20 minutes. Peel off and discard charred skins. Remove stems and seeds. Cut peppers in half; set aside.

2.Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat 10-12 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain. Stir in garlic, cumin, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes; set aside.

3.In a large bowl, whisk eggs, cream and flour; set aside.

4.Place half of the peppers in a greased 13×9-in. baking dish; top with half of the meat mixture. Layer with 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese and 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, remaining meat mixture and remaining peppers. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese. Gently pour egg mixture over ingredients. Bake, covered, until bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining pepper jack cheese; bake 10 minutes longer until golden brown around the edges. If desired, top with optional ingredients.