Taquitos!

Taquitos are fun food!

I never heard of taquitos until coming across a  recipe for Chorizo and Potato Taquitos in Everyday with Rachael Ray.  However, I put off making them because in the recipe they are deep-fried – something I rarely do.  And, although I had never tried it, potatoes in Mexican  food never appealed to me. So, one evening trying to come up with something new  that would appeal  to the vegan kids and myself  and to my meat-eating husband, I decided to give these a go. They were a big success and have been repeated several times since.

So what we have are fried corn tortillas filled with  a voluptuously thick and smooth filling of  Mexican-style vegan sausage, sauteed peppers, onions, and tomato combined into mashed  potatoes.  As for my potato concern – I am skeptical no more!  The potatoes in this dish are the glue that holds the ground vegan sausage and veggies together in a nice, smooth package. Absolutely delicious!

I used as little oil as possible;  just enough to get both sides nice and crispy.

Recipe Notes:

First time out,  I made my own sausage for this to reduce the fat but that made the whole thing very time consuming.   I now use Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausage instead. It consists of naturally occurring, whole foods -  no textured, isolated weird stuff.

Also, you will need to warm the tortillas before rolling so they are pliable and don’t break. Wrap 6 at a time tightly in foil (so they steam) and put in a 325° oven for a few minutes until they are soft and pliable. I don’t use a microwave but you could microwave them without foil in a plastic bag for 25 seconds.

One last  friendly tip: because oil can splatter, wear clothing that covers your upper body while frying.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz. potato, peeled and sliced
• 8 oz. Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Vegan Sausage,  ground
• 1 c. finely diced bell pepper
• 1 c. finely diced onion
• 1 c. crushed tomato – I used Muir Glen Fire-Roasted
• 1 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice
• Daiya  cheddar style shreds or vegan cheese of choice, optional
• 18 corn tortillas
• neutral oil for frying – I used safflower

1. Steam or boil potato in medium pot until fork tender – time dependent on size of cut potato. I slice mine into 1/4 inch thick  rounds so they steam quickly. When done, mash in same pot (drained) and set aside.
2. While potato cooks, heat enough oil to thinly coat a saute pan and add onion and pepper when hot. Saute over medium heat  until tender; should only take a few minutes if diced small enough. Stir in tomato and ground sausage. Cover and lower heat to low,  allowing to cook a few minutes to meld flavors.
3. While sausage mixture works, put wrapped tortillas in oven and check in 2 minute intervals until soft and pliable.
4. Stir  sausage mixture into potato along with lemon juice and combine until everything is well incorporated.
5. Working with one batch of  six warmed tortillas at a time, spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture down center of  tortilla and top with cheese; roll tightly and set aside, seam side down.
6. Get a cast iron skillet going over medium-high heat with roughly  a  quarter to  half  inch of oil. While oil heats, place a clean  rag or paper towels off to the side. Oil is ready when a bit of flour dropped in sizzles. Using tongs, gently place taquitos in oil seam side down and fry for 3 -5  minutes until seam side is sealed, crisp, and a darker golden yellow in color. Use tongs to flip gently. Fry until done on other side and remove to rag to cool. Drain pain and wipe clean with a thick rag. Repeat warming remaining tortillas in batches of six, filling, and frying.

Yields: 18 taquitos