Author: Wolfgang Kessler

The Urban Wolf talked to Your Life Your Planet about preserving food through fermenting and smoking. He specialises in Artisan-quality, smallgoods and locally-grown produce in Gippsland, Victoria.

Here he runs through a recipe that kids love and that is easy to make.

There are three stages to the preparation:

1. Cooking the salsa sauce
2. Mixing the topping
3. Assembling the final nachos

The Salsa sauce

Vegetarians can simply skip the spicy chorizo sausage [in brackets]!

The ingredients

• A can of mixed beans (drained) – or prepare your own from dried beans
• A can of tomato puree – or prepare your own red sauce
• Half a cup of vegetable stock
• Table spoon of tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 onion (red)
• 1 capsicum (1/2 red, 1/2 green)
• Spices: Pepper, coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper

The method

1. Finely chop garlic
2. Dice onion and capsicum (5mm cubes)
3. Puree or pulp tomatoes
4. (slice sausage 3mm thick)

1. Heat medium saucepan, add oil
2. (fry sausage until coloured – remove to plate)

1. Slightly fry onion and garlic before adding tomato paste

1. Fry for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add spices and cook for 2 minutes to get the flavour.

1. Add capsicum and tomato and half the stock, cook for 5 minutes

1. Add the beans and the rest of the stock and cook until a consistency you like
2. (you can thicken with a teaspoon of cornflour in a tablespoon of water)

The topping

This herbed, sour-cream topping is refreshing and tasty. It offsets the rich warm taste of the salsa and is the perfect complement to the nachos.

You can quickly put it together while the salsa is cooling.
(In fact, it is so easy you can do it while the nachos are grilling – next step.)

Ingredients

• 3 tbs sour cream
• ¼ tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp fresh chopped coriander (leave 1 tsp for garnish)
• 1 tsp parsley fresh chopped
• 1 pinch cumin ground
• 1 pinch chilli powder
• Salt & black pepper

Method

Mix everything together and return to fridge.

The final nachos

Now comes the fun part: assembling the final product.

Arrange ½ amount corn chips into two med size soup plates.

Spoon over each plate  ½ cup salsa.

Top with more corn chips and ¼ cup salsa.

Top again with the remaining chips and salsa.

Place on the fried chorizo slices and cheese, before heating in the oven until the cheese is starting to melt.

Now spoon the herbed, sour-cream topping over the nachos and garnish with the remaining chopped coriander.