Burrito Pie

Funny name. Is that like mincemeat pie, you might be wondering? Like, they call it "pie" and you think it's dessert but really it's this gross thing they make with leftover animal parts. But this isn't like that. It's not really a pie at all, more like a casserole. As you know, I love Mexican. Also this recipe makes 2 casseroles, so you can freeze one. I always like to do that, for those nights when I am like a zombie because of my work schedule. So. This one is from the April/May 2011 Simple & Delicious.

Burrito Pie
2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (15 oz each) Ranch style beans (pinto beans in seasoned tomato sauce)(I had a hard time finding these, and ended up getting something called "chili beans" from Walmart, which were small red beans in a flavored sauce...it worked fine)
1 bottle (16 oz) taco sauce (you could probably sub something else here if you didn't want to buy taco sauce, but I bought it)
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (I somehow did not see this when making my shopping list, so ended up leaving it out...it was still fine though)
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 can (3.8 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained (don't like olives...left these out)
12 flour tortillas (8 inches), halved
4 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the beans, taco sauce, tomatoes, chilies, and olives. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Spread 1 cup of meat mixture in each of two greased 11x7 baking dishes. Layer with 4 tortilla halves, 1 cup meat mixture, and 2/3 cup cheese (I totally eye-balled these measurements). Repeat layers twice.

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake remaining casserole at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in fridge overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover, bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Everybody liked this! Yay! Nathan mostly just picked the meat out of his, but he still ate it. It was very very tasty. Steve and Sam loved it. I did too. We should have had a veggie or something with it, but I forgot. Definitely a keeper.