Posh Nachos: Individual Homemade Nachos Fancy Enough For a Dinner Party
While Abbi was away at the Science Museum sleepover this weekend, Jamie jumped right in to “only child” mode requesting his current favourite meal du jour (and a host of other things too). One of his current favourites is nachos. Or steak. What can I say, he’s a boy. Favourite meals were hardly likely to be heavy on the salad. One of the things we hate with restaurant nachos is that the toppings are not evenly distributed. I know as problems go this is not quite up there with global warming, or finding a cure for cancer, but one problem at a time people. So turn our attention to this issue we did: In our house all nachos are created equal. And as a bi-product, these bad boys are fancy enough to be posh nachos at a dinner party. In fact they have become our go to nibbles pre dinner ever since.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Tortilla Corn Chips
- 300g Chilli (or bolognese) Use vegetarian if you absolutely must.
- 100g Mature Cheddar Cheese
- Tabasco
Serve with
- Jalapenos
- Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Guacamole
Method
Bolognese / Chilli
I always have at least 10 portions of bolognese in my freezer. It’s a throwback from when my kids were little, where with a little modification, it can be be served with pasta, or spiced up with rice to become chilli, tortillas to become quesadillas, spooned on toasted ciabatta for a sloppy jo, and sprinkled with cheese for a baked potatoes. You get the point. We have a lot of bolognese and chilli. Use your own favourite recipe to make around 300g of bolognese or chilli – reduce the liquid to ensure not too wet if necessary. I don’t put kidney beans in mine – though you can if you are a traditionalist. Haricot beans would be a good substitute.
To Make the Nachos
Its hardly rocket science. Layer corn chips on a baking sheet. Add a teaspoon of your favourite bolognese or chilli. Depending upon how hot you want them, add a few drops of tabasco per tortilla. There is no need to heat the chilli first.
Sprinkle with mature cheddar cheese.
Bang under the grill. The heat from the grill will both melt the cheese and warm up the chilli. Watch them like a hawk. On more than one occasion I have put them under the grill and gone to do something, only to be alerted by the dulcet tones of the smoke alarm!
Serve with sour cream, guacamole and salsa and jalapeño peppers on the side.
Entertaining tips
These are a great way of serving nachos as a nibble with drinks. But they are pretty filling, so depending upon how many you serve, probably as an alternative to a starter as opposed to before the starter. I will either put on a large platter, and serve with little dishes of the ‘trimming’ and spoons for guests to add the combination they prefer. Or you can pre assemble into one easy bite. After cooking, layer a spot of guacamole, sour cream, salsa and a jalapeño on each nacho.
Either way, if you are making these for a dinner party, assemble everything up to the grilling stage. Provided your chilli isn’t too wet, the nachos can stay in the fridge for a good few hours before the tortillas go soggy.
Comments 2
Such a great twist, on one of my favourite dishes. Yum.
Author
Thanks Lucy – one of may faves too – only problem is I eat around 30 of them!!
Have a great day. Di x