Mexican, Mexican, Mexican……Oh how I love to eat REAL Mexican!  Cheesy, spicy, lamb filled tortillas topped with creamy guacamole and a whack of tantalising salsa.  I know, I am repeating myself but can food get any better than this? Come on Amigos!  Get out of the Old El Paso slump…..there is so much more of Mexico to experience.  Starting right here.

Prep time:  30-40 minutes            Cooking time:  15 minutes            $  Low Budget

Serves 4-6

Olive oil for frying

600gm of lamb mince

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 small brown onion, finely diced

1 tsp of ground cumin

1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper (add another 1/2 if you like it spicy)

1 tsp of paprika

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp of tomato paste

100gm of baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

Sea salt and pepper

1/2 cup of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

2 cups of grated tasty cheese

4-6 Jumbo wheat tortillas

Lime wedges to serve and coriander sprigs for garnish

For the Pico De Gallo:

4 large ripe tomatoes, quartered & seeds removed

1 small red onion, very finely diced

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 cup of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

1/2 tsp of sugar

For the Guacamole:

2 ripe avocados

1 tbs of sour cream

A good slosh of tobasco sauce (A few drops if you like it less spicy!)

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

Sea salt and pepper

To make the salsa, finely chop the tomatoes once they are deseeded and quartered and combine with the onion, chilli, coriander, lime juice, olive oil and sugar.  Season well and stir to combine.  Have a taste and adjust seasoning, chilli, sugar or lime juice to taste.  Clean around the edges of the bowl if you are serving at the table.

In another bowl combine the avocado, sour cream, tobasco sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper and cayenne pepper.  Mash with a fork and give it a good whip with a spoon.  Tidy up the bowl or spoon it into a serving bowl.

Heat a large frypan and add a little olive oil.  Add the onion, garlic and green chilli and lightly fry until the onion is soft.  Turn the heat up and add the lamb mince (I like to cook mince on a really high heat to prevent it from getting watery), break it up with the back of a wooden spoon and fry until browned.  Sprinkle over the cumin, cayenne and paprika and fry for a further minute , stirring continuously.  Squeeze over the lime juice, add the tomato paste (if the tomato paste doesn’t blend to well add a tablespoon or two of water) and stir well before sprinkling over the chopped spinach and coriander.  Pop a lid on for approximately 2 minutes until the spinach has wilted, season well with salt and pepper  and then stir to combine.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  (It will only need a further minute to reheat later)

Heat a large, non stick frypan (or these would go brilliantly on a BBQ) to nice and hot.  Grab a jumbo tortilla and sprinkle cheese over half the tortilla.  Top that half with a couple of spoonfuls of lamb mince and fold the top over and place in the pan.  If the pan is large enough you can fit two in at a time.  Fry on one side until golden and then flip carefully and fry the other side until golden.  You can keep these warm in a low oven (160°) on a rack if you are cooking in batches.  Repeat with another two tortillas if you are cooking for four.

Place the tortilla on a cutting board and cut it into 4 even pieces.  Layer them on a plate and top with a generous dollop of guacamole and a couple of spoonfuls of salsa.  Garnish with coriander sprigs and lime wedges.  OMG……sensational!!