This week’s Doris Project recipe comes to us from the nice folk at Campbell’s, and, for a change, I stayed mostly true to their recipe…
Well, OK, so I added onion and black olives…
and, I made my own ‘condensed’ tomato soup…
But it was all still a simple, one-dish (made in my tagine) dinner, and ready, even with home made soup, in about 90 minutes.
About that soup. I’ve tried a substitute for caned tomato soup before, and it was good; but I think I prefer this version. Check out my no-cook, no-dairy version here; or tune back in for Friday’s Parfait! post showing you how to make this really pretty darned fantastic ‘condensed’ tomato soup with just a few simple, basic ingredients. I could also note that making your own takes just a bit 
longer than opening one of those friendly red and white cans, so why wouldn’t you want to make it yourself, and fresher?
Back to the taco bake…
INGREDIENTS
•1 lb ground beef
•1 sweet onion, diced (about 2 cups)
•1 can tomato soup
•1 cup salsa
•1 tsp hot sauce (I used mine)
•1/2 cup milk
•1 tsp low salt soy sauce
•1 (2.25 oz) can sliced ripe olives, drained
•8 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch pieces
•1 cup(+/-) shredded Cheddar cheese
Heat oven to 400º, cut the corn tortillas into one inch strips, and set aside.
Brown the ground beef and diced onion in a large skillet (I used my tagine to cook the meat, then to make the soup, and finally to bake the casserole, so it was a one-pan meal) over medium high heat until the meat is cooked through and the onion tender.
Transfer to a colander and drain well.
Stir the soup together with the milk, salsa, hot sauce, and soy sauce in a wide, oven-safe casserole, then add the cooked and drained beef and onion, the olives, tortilla strips, and 1/2 cup of the cheese.
Stir to combine, then cover tightly and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the cover, sprinkle on the remaining cheese (I may have used about 3/4 of a cup), then pop back into the oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, just until the cheese is nicely melted.
Serve hot, with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and mebbe a dash or two more of the hot sauce.
Little muss, no real fuss, and mighty tasty, to boot – I like that in a casserole dinner!