Chile Rellenos Casserole
This recipe has been used by our family for years and years. I think I was in middle school the first time I tried it. I loved it then and I love it now. We’ve served it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ve had it plain and with tortillas. It can be an entrée or a side added to a bbq. It is tasty, versatile and an all around winner.
I’ll write the original recipe, given to us by our good friend Barbara. In parenthesis I’ll add the changes we’ve made over the years.
I hope you love this as much as we do.
Ingredients:
2 – 7 oz cans of whole Ortega green chilies (I like to use fresh roasted chilies. If you don’t know how to roast an Anaheim pepper see below)
2 lbs of cheddar cheese, sliced thickly (We only use 1 lb. I like to use half cheddar and half jack)
16 oz can of tomato sauce
4 eggs, separated
16 oz can of evaporated milk
3 tb flour
salt and pepper – to taste
one bunch of fresh cilantro (the original recipe didn’t call for this)
Directions:
Beat egg whites until stiff – set aside
In a separate bowl: beat egg yolks, add milk, flour, salt and pepper
Add stiffly beaten egg whites to the above mixture
Remove seeds and flatten chilies (if you want to keep a few seeds, that’ll add some spice)
If you haven’t already, slice the cheese into thick slices
Begin layering the casserole by alternating chilies and cheese (close together)
Pour liquid mixture over the chilies and cheese and cover with foil
Bake at 325 for 1 hour
Pull out and lift foil off the top. It should look like this.
Pour tomato sauce over the casserole
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes
Add fresh, chopped cilantro to the top
How to Roast an Anaheim Pepper
Cover metal sheet with foil
Place chilies on the foil
Drizzle with olive oil
Set the oven to 350
Place in oven for 25 minutes or until you notice blisters
Turn over, allow bottom side to blister
Pull out of oven
Fold foil onto itself with chilies inside
Let sit for 15 minutes. This will allow the steam to get under the skin and make them much easier to peal. It will also give them a chance to cool down so you don’t burn your fingers.
Peal the skin off of the chilies.
Remove the stem and most of the seeds (I like to leave a few for heat).
Cut open a slit the length of the chili.
Incorporate into casserole recipe by alternating cheese and chili.
How spicy are Anaheim Chili’s? Can you use problano chilli instead? I can’t handle too much spicy hot.
Anaheim chili is hit and miss. They can be a little spicy when the seeds are left in, but sometimes they are quite bland. If you have good luck with problano then I think they would still provide good flavor and work in this dish.