RECIPE: Queso Fundito with Chorizo and Roasted Peppers

Queso fundito is one of my favorite things to order in a Mexican restaurant, but now that I know the dangers of the high amounts of omega-6 in pork fat, I'm reluctant to order pork in any restaurant.  Using chorizo made from low PUFA pork, I can make this treat at home!  

It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, though.  Sourcing the right cheese - chihuahua - proved to be a problem, and the alternatives suggested  - monterey jack, manchego, and Oaxaca - didn't seem like they would melt properly.  In my first attempt I used three small containers and cooked each variety of cheese separately to see how they react.  None of them was perfect, oaxaca didn't have much flavor, manchego didn't melt well, and jack cheese was too rubbery, but I suspected that combining them might give me the results I wanted.

Three different cheese experiment

My second attempt was successful - combining all three mimicked the recommended chihuahua cheese perfectly.

Queso Fundito with Chorizo and Peppers   

Serves 2-3

You can make this with onions, peppers, chorizo or a combination.   I like to put the peppers and chorizo in the cheese, and use the onions as a garnish.  If you prepare, you can saute the onions with the chorizo.

During the summer, when peppers are ripe, I roast them, peel them, and then freeze them.  I do this with red bell peppers, red pimiento peppers, and poblano peppers.  Having them in the freezer makes this meal easy to prepare.

I will also pressure can chorizo in pint jars, another way to make the meal easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

• For the fundito:
• 1 cup grated manchego cheese
• 1 cup grated oaxaca cheese
• 1 cup grated monterey jack, or pepper jack cheese
• 3/4 cup chorizo
• 1/4 cup roasted peppers, either poblano or red bell
• Garnish:
• 1/2 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup roasted peppers
• 1 cup guacamole (I used pea guacamole) 
• sour cream
  
• tortillas

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven (I used the toaster oven) to 250.  Wrap the tortillas in parchment, then in foil, and place them on the bottom rack to heat.  Place the other rack close to the broiler.

Heat a small 8" ovenproof skillet over medium-high (I used cast iron).  When it's hot, add the chorizo and saute until bubbling.

Turn the heat off, distribute the peppers on top of the chorizo, then sprinkle the cheese on top of the peppers.

Put the pan in the oven and BROIL for 2 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is slightly brown.  The heat from the chorizo will melt the cheese from the bottom.  Don't overcook or it will become chewy.

Serve immediately with warm tortillas, guacamole, cilantro, minced red onion, and sour cream.

NOTE: in the photo above, I made a double recipe and transferred half to a cazuela, leaving the other half in the cast iron which I cooked once the cazuela was done.  You could also make this in individual cazuelas and let each diner chose what to put in their cheese.

 

Queso fundito, pea guacamole, minced red onion

Garnish for queso fundito: roasted peppers,cilantro, red onion