Mexican Lasagna with Roasted Jalapeno-Corn Cheese Sauce

As a working mom, I try to find ways to use my crock-pot as much as possible, and I have come up with several partial crock-pot recipes...meaning: part of the recipe is cooked in the crock-pot while the rest involves some extra cooking or preparation.  This Mexican Lasagna is one of those recipes.

Mexican Crock-Pot Chicken Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup store bought salsa (I use Pace Medium)
1 Tbsp Chipotle Peppers in Adobe (crushed...I will explain)
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Chicken Breast
1 small onion (sliced)

*Combine all and cook on High 4 to 6 hours.  When chicken is cooked through, use a potato masher and shred.

Ok!  So let me talk to you for a second about Chipotle Peppers in Adobe...this little can has to be my favorite of all things canned!  I use it in so many recipes!  Now, I think it is a pain to pull out one pepper at a time and chop it up because it is difficult to measure how much heat you are getting from that one pepper AND most of the adobe sauce (which is the best part!) gets on my cutting board instead of in my dish, so here is my solution.  Put this whole can into your blender or food processor, fill 1/2 of the Chipotle Pepper can with water and add that to the blender also, then blend it together (about 30 seconds).  You now have a crushed chipotle pepper paste/sauce (it will be a little bit thicker than a sauce and a little bit thinner than a paste),  I store it in my refrigerator and use it in dips, tacos, and chili.  YUM!

Mexican Lasagna with Roasted Jalapeno-Corn Cheese Sauce:

Mexican Crock-Pot Chicken (see above)
8-10 Flour Tortillas
2 Jalapenos (if you would rather something milder, Poblanos peppers are fine)
1 cup fresh or frozen  corn (If fresh, roast 1 corn cob in its husk for 30 minutes and then cut the kernels off.  If frozen, dethaw)
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
2 cups cheese (I use a combination of the following: sharp cheddar, smoked Gouda, and/or a smoked cheddar)
1 1/2 cup Simply Salsa (see recipe) drained. (I am sure a store bought salsa would work just fine too but be sure to watch the liquid...you don't want a soggy lasagna!)
1/2 can of black beans
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese

I use to have a square baking dish that was the BEST for this recipe, but it broke so I am using a 9 X 13 dish.

Step 1:  Cut jalapenos in 1/2 and lay them seed side down a baking sheet.  Put under a broiler for about 5 minutes or until the outside skin is charred.  Remove and place in a plastic or brown paper bag and let cool about 5-15 minutes.  Remove outer skin, seeds, and stem.  Finely chop.

Step 2:  In a small sauce pan combine chopped jalapeno, chopped garlic, and corn with butter and cook about 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat.  Add the heavy cream and allow the cream to get warm (about 3 minutes).  Add 1/2 cup cheese at a time and whisk until the cheese the melted.  Continue adding cheese until your mixture is thick.  Keep whisking...you don't want burnt cheese on the bottom of your pan!  Set aside.

Step 3: Cut 8 flour tortillas in half.  Spray your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay the tortillas down so that they cover the bottom of the baking dish.  (If you are using a square baking dish, 4 halves should cover it).

Step 4:  Using a slotted spoon, spread 1/2 of the Mexican Crock-Pot Chicken evenly over the tortillas.  Be sure that you get out as much liquid as you can.  Next evenly spread 3/4 cup of the drained Simply Salsa and 1/2 of the black beans over the chicken.  Then pour 1/2 of the Roasted Jalapeno-Corn Cheese Sauce over that.

Step 5:  Add another layer of the flour tortillas, chicken, salsa, black beans, and cheese sauce.  Cover with Mexican Blend Cheese and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

As you can see from my picture, one small corner is not covered in the Mexican Blend Cheese.  This is because my son does not like melted cheese on top of ANYTHING.  For some reason he now likes cheese sauces, which is strange...don't worry, I am working on him!

Step 6:  Slice and serve with sour cream and/or guacamole.  Enjoy!







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