Description
In these chickpea tinga tostadadillas, chickpeas are cooked in a homemade Mexican tinga sauce, lightly mashed, and used as a topping for tinga-spiced tostadadillas. Tostadadillas are a mash-up of tostadas and quesadillas: small corn or flour tortillas are baked until crispy, layered with shredded cheese, and topped with tinga spices, then baked again until the cheese has melted. The finished tostadadillas are topped off with guacamole and creamy cashew sauce for the perfect vegan or vegetarian Mexican-themed Meatless Monday!
Ingredients
Chickpea Tinga
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 2 chipotle peppers + 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 14-oz cans, drained and rinsed)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Tinga Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Tostadadillas
- 8 small corn or flour tortillas
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or medium cheddar cheese
Guacamole
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- Juice of 1–2 limes (to taste)
- 1/4–1/2 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Honey Lime Cashew Cream
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for an hour and drained
- 1/2 cup water plus more as needed
- Zest of 1 organic lime
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Make the chickpea tinga: Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion, garlic, and a small pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes, until the onion softens. Add the red pepper, salt, pepper, and spices; cook a few minutes more, until the pepper is softened.
- Add the diced tomato, chipotles, and adobo sauce to an upright blender and blend until smooth. Pour into the skillet. Add the sugar and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the flavours can blend and the sauce can thicken up. Remove from the heat. Using a potato masher, lightly mash the chickpeas so that some are broken up and some are left whole. Stir in the red wine vinegar.
- Meanwhile, make the tinga seasoning: Combine the garlic powder, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika, and salt in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Make the tostadadillas: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with extra virgin olive oil. Arrange them on two baking sheets, with as little overlap as possible so that they crisp up optimally. Bake for 8 minutes, flipping them over halfway through so that both sides get crispy. Remove from the oven and top four of the tortillas with the cheese, then top with the remaining tortillas. Sprinkle the top tortillas with the tinga seasoning and return to the oven for five minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the guacamole and cashew sauce: To make the guacamole, mash the avocados. Stir in the lime juice, salt, garlic, and cilantro. To make the cashew sauce, combine the soaked cashews, water, lime juice and zest, honey, garlic, and salt in a blender. Blend until super smooth. Transfer into a jar or container.
- Assemble: Evenly divide the chickpea tinga between the tostadadillas, top with cashew cream and guacamole, and enjoy with any garnishes you like.
Notes
While these don’t beg for a side salad (they are pretty darn satisfying on their own), they would be great alongside a Mexican-style cabbage slaw. I don’t have my own recipe posted, but I usually just shred half of a cabbage and some carrots in the food processor and toss it with a simple cumin lime dressing. The perfect cooling, palate cleansing counterpoint to this boldly flavoured and spiced tostadadillas!
To make these vegan, use shredded vegan cheese and omit the honey in the cashew cream.
The guacamole and cashew cream make way more than you’re likely to need for garnishing, but store them in the fridge and enjoy them with chips the next day! Delish.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Course
Keywords: Chickpea Tinga tostadadillas