Tamale Pie (GF)

Tamales. If you've ever had the pleasure of tasting a homemade tamale you can almost taste the time and effort that goes into making them. Tamales are made with a corn based flour and usually filled with meat, beans or cheese. They are wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks and then steamed to delicious perfection. 

I am not quite as committed to this process but I love the flavours and wanted to try and replicate it. No banana leaves here but what I did do was put an oven safe dish filled with water in the oven about 10 minutes before I ready to pop my pies in the oven. I wanted to create a bit of a steam room for the tamale crust. 

Admittedly I don't make this recipe often because it is a bit more time consuming than my usual weeknight meals but when I do take the extra time it is so worth it. The family always dives in for seconds. 

Recipe makes 12 slices, 2 pies

Prep time: 35mins
Cook Time: 25mins, 8-10mins rest
myWW Blue and Purple plans 2SP, Green plan 3SP
My Fitness Pal - Cal: 201, Fat: 6g, Carbs: 26g, Protein: 14g

Ingredients:

Tamale crust:

1 1/2 cups Masa Harina Corn Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 pkg of taco seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 cup fat free chicken stock

1/3 cup of fat free plain yogurt

Filling:

2 lb ground chicken breast

1/2 cup diced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 red or orange pepper, diced

1 can of corn, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup fat free salsa

2 cups fat free refried beans (you can find these canned and prepared but you can also make your own! Here's my recipe - Homemade Refried Beans

3/4 pkg taco seasoning
1/2 tsp salt

90 gm Galbani shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray 2 pie plates or shallow dishes with cooking spray. 
2. To make the Tamale crust, Combine all of the ingredients until it forms a
workable dough. Divide the dough in half. Press the dough into the dishes and up the sides of the pie plate as well. Poke with a fork. 

3. Spray a deep frying pan with cooking spray. Cook the ground chicken. When chicken is almost done create a well in the pan and add the onion, and garlic. 

4. Cook onions until translucent and add the peppers and corn to the pan. Mix everything together and keep cooking for another 5 mins. Add the refried beans and stir well until everything is combined well. Add the taco seasoning and stir in. 
5. Put an oven safe pan filled with water in the oven to create a bit of steam and humidity in the oven. 

6. Evenly spread the filling in both pie shells. Cover evenly with the salsa and cheese. I topped one of mine with jalepenos. 

7. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from heat and let rest for 8-10mins. This is important. You can turn the oven off and pop the door of the oven open if you are worried about them getting cold. Just let them rest. This helps it set and makes slicing and serving easier. Now, if you don't care about them coming out in perfect slices, just go ahead and dig in!

8. Top with Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt, salsa, jalepenos...delicious.