Nachos can be a full meal containing all the food groups.Danielle Matar/The Globe and Mail
For some this is the best time of the year, or maybe even the decade. There are Canadian teams at play in the basketball and hockey playoffs and the Jays are batting again, giving the rest of us ample opportunity to hone our couch eating skills.
There are lots of bar snacks that transition well to eating straight off the coffee table, but one reigns supreme: nachos. And for those of us who care about such things, nachos can be a full meal containing all the food groups, not just the bar-friendly food groups of fat, sugar and salt. Veggies and meat play well under a layer of melted cheese; salsa contains lots of fresh, acidic flavours. The surprising addition of sausage makes these nachos a worthy dinnertime meal for sports fans and non-fans alike.
Our method of baking the nachos with sausage meat turns nachos into a one-step meal. You just need to crumble the meat out of the casings (some groceries and butchers carry sausage meat that is not encased, making it even easier). Any kind of sausage will do – Lucy prefers chorizo or hot Italian.
Making them in a skillet ups the wow factor when serving, but for a big crowd, layer the chips on a cookie sheet. We didn't use fancy batch-cooked chips in this dish because they got mushy. Choose a basic supermarket brand. A homemade roasted-tomato salsa is more important.
Nachos
1 320-g bag restaurant style tortilla chips
1 19-oz can drained and rinsed black beans, about 2 cups
3 or 4 sausages, removed from casings, about 1 lb
1/4 cup finely diced jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, if desired
4 cups grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (or a mix)
Toppings: sliced avocado, crema (recipe follows), roasted-tomato salsa (recipe follows), red and yellow peppers, olives, diced tomatoes, sliced green onions, cilantro leaves
Roasted Tomato Salsa
1 lb Roma tomatoes halved, about 5
1 small onion sliced in 1/2-inch rounds, about 1 cup
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
Salt
2 tbsp lime juice
Crema
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp lime juice
Salt to taste
Method
Nachos
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Lay half of the chips in a single layer on a reserved baking sheet. Sprinkle with half of the beans, sausage, jalapeno, and cheese. Repeat with remaining chips, beans, sausage, jalapeno and cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden around the edges and sausage is cooked.
Serve with roasted tomato salsa, crema and toppings. Let people help themselves.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Place tomatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side up. Add onions, garlic cloves and jalapeno to the baking sheet. Broil until vegetables are deeply browned and beginning to char, about 3 to 5 minutes. Check every minute.
Reduce oven temperature to 400 F. Reserve baking sheet or use a skillet.
Trim and peel garlic cloves. Place peeled garlic and charred vegetables in food processor and pulse until blended but still chunky. Season with salt and lime juice. Reserve.
Crema
Combine sour cream and lime juice for the crema. Season with salt.