I got the idea of crusting my stuffed peppers with a polenta-masa dough to mimic the fried crust I would get in a restaurant. Usually I make peppers and just bake them with no crust at all... just chili or a salsa. The masa dough made these much like a giant tamale. They were bueno!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time15 minutesmins
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 2Cup
Ingredients
2Poblano chili's
1CanBlack beans
1/2Onion
4TbspNopalesCactus
2TbspHatch chili salsa
2TbspMexican Spice blend
6Mushrooms
1 CupRed Enchilada SauceSee notes
4-5Corn husksOptional - see notes
Polenta-masa dough
1CupPolenta
3CupsWaterTo cook polenta in
1TbspMexican Spice Blend
1/4CupOrganic blue corn masa flourSee notes
3TbspLime Juice
3TbspHot waterTo thin dough
Mexican Spice Blend
1TbspGarlic Powder
4TbspGround Cumin
4 Tbsp Smoked Chipotle Powder
2TbspAncho Chili Powder
2TbspMexican OreganoMay sub Marjoram
1TbspJalapeno PowderOptional
1TbspBlack Pepper
Instructions
Prepare your Polenta-Masa dough and Spice Blend.
Roast peppers over your cook top flame or Bake them at 400 ° F for 15 minutes to cook the skins. Place in a brown bag and close it up to allow the peppers to sweat.
Chop onion into a small dice. Add to a bowl.
Roughly chop your nopales, add to mixing bowl.
Wash and slice mushrooms, add to mixing bowl.
Add hatch chili salsa to the mixing bowl.
Drain a can of black beans and add to your mixing bowl. Stir to incorporate.
Remove peppers from the bag and use a sharp knife to carefully remove the skin.
Make a 4" slice into the pepper, lengthwise, careful not to slice all the way through. Remove the membrane and seeds as much as possible without tearing the pepper. Rinse with water and allow to drain.
Scoop about half of your polenta into a baking dish and spread it to line the bottom of your pan.
Carefully stuff the peppers with the bean filling. Make certain to force the mixture into each end of the pepper then fill in between the ends.
Place onto the bed of masa dough in the baking sheet.
Spoon masa dough onto the pepper and spread to coat. Tip: Use a wet corn husk to help get an even layer over the pepper. The dough will not stick to the wet corn husk.
Place a lid over the peppers or top with a layer of wet corn husks.
Bake at 325 ° F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, Remove corn husks and top with enchilada sauce. Return to oven an additional 30 minutes. See notes.
Use a large spatula to move a pepper to the plate being careful to include the bottom crust.
Top with more sauce if desired. Serve with a Pico De Gallo or salsa of choice.
Mexican Spice Blend
Combine ingredients and mix together well.
Store in a shaker bottle.
Please note, no salt was added. Season your dish with Himalayan salt to your taste when you prepare your dish.
Polenta-Masa dough
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add polenta and spice blend. Stir and allow polenta to cook. I use Bob's Red Mill and it cooks in about five minutes.
Add Masa flour and lime juice. Stir to incorporate. Set aside.
Add hot water as necessary if the polenta if the polenta is too thick to spread easily.
Notes
A Snap Pea Sheep recipeI use organic blue corn, masa flour because it is one way I can guarantee my corn product is not GMO. Since it is organic, it may not have the pesticides that we find in regular corn. I made my own red enchilada sauce but you can use store bought. Before I was so picky about labels, my favorite store bought sauce was Old El Paso, Medium red enchilada sauce. Now I often use Trader Joe's Red Enchilada Sauce. I have yet to find any sauce on the market that does not have oil. I try to at least find one without dyes or "natural" flavors. In this recipe, I chose to add my sauce and bake an additional 30 minutes. You could also remove the husks halfway through the cooking process and pour on heated enchilada sauce at serving time if you prefer a crisp coating. Instead of aluminum foil or parchment, I use wet corn husks when I need a lid for my food. The wet corn husk hold the moisture in the food and I generally have them on hand.