Recipe: Green Pepper Frito Pie
There are only a few cowboy cooks left in the U.S., and Kent Rollins is one of them. Along with his wife (photographer Shannon Keller Rollins), he offers sizzling steaks and down-home philosophy to the cowboys who herd cattle and show up mighty hungry at the Rollins' 1876 Studebaker chuck wagon.
The following recipe is from Rollins' recently published cookbook, "A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail" by Kent Rollins and Shannon Rollins (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Boy, this brings back childhood memories. At every rodeo or school game, the bestseller at the concession stand was Frito pie. Chili meat poured into a snack-sized sack of Frito chips was simple greatness. I thought I'd help this standby with a little more spice and give you more room to work with than just those little ole chip sacks. Dive in and feed the family, 'cause this is a classic.
Green Pepper Frito Pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (15-ounce) can red enchilada sauce
Salt and black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 to 3 cups Frito corn chips
Ingredients:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a 12-inch cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet), begin browning the meat over medium heat.
3. When the meat starts to brown, stir in the onion and green pepper. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned completely, about 10 minutes. Drain the grease.
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the tomatoes, Worcestershire and enchilada sauces, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the meat mixture.
6. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
7. Sprinkle the Fritos evenly over the top. Lightly press the Fritos into the pie and serve.
More recipes from Kent Rollins:
- All-Night Sourdough Pancakes
- Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce
- Sparklin' Taters
- Throwdown-Winning Chicken-Fried Steak
Recipes and photography from "A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail" by Kent Rollins. Copyright © 2015 by Kent Rollins and Shannon Rollins. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
For more info:
- "A Taste of Cowboy: Ranch Recipes and Tales from the Trail" by Kent Rollins (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- kentrollins.com
- Follow @Kent_Rollins on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube