Taquito Longganisa

Browsing through the FOOD Eat and Run Cookbook has allowed me to list down quite a lot of recipes I wanted to re-create, and I immediately asked brother to include a box of taquito on the next grocery shopping (because I didn't go with them). It took a while before I was able to use it because one key ingredient was missing, and when the pork delivery arrived, I tried the recipe.

Taquito Longganisa

{makes 45 taquitos, or about 18 regular tacos}

Using longganisa instead of chili con carne adds a new dimension to the pleasure of eating tacos. The herbs complement the flavor of Vigan / Lucban style longganisa, and because it's already seasoned, you don't need to spend a lot of time correcting the taste. The additional sugar tempers but doesn't sweeten the over-all taste of the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo skinless longganisa, or remove meat from casing if using stuffed longganisa.
• 1/2 to 1 cup diced green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon EACH of: thyme, sage, and rosemary
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (optional)
• 45 pieces mini taco shells
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded cheese OR if in a hurry, 1 cup bottled cheese spread, thinned with 3 tablespoons hot milk
• 3 cups shredded lettuce

How to Cook:

• Place sausage meat in a bowl and mash lightly with a fork until it resembles ground meat mixture. In a skillet, heat and cook sausage meat until nearly brown, around 5 minutes, stirring and pressing the meat often to remove lumps in the mixture.
• Stir in bell peppers, tomato sauce, herbs, and sugar. Continue cooking over low heat 12 - 15 minutes more or until liquid is absorbed by the meat, adding chili sauce in the last few minutes of cooking, if using. Drain excess oil.
• Fill taco shells with cooked meat mixture. Top each with tomatoes, cheese (or cheese spread), and lettuce.

Notes to Consider:

• It's also best to allow the diners to make their own taquito, to lessen kitchen time.
• To maximize your time, you can prepare the tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese while meat is cooking.

At that time, we didn't have any lettuce, so I used shredded cabbage, which I blanched in hot water. As you can see in the picture, I only prepared 5 taquitos, because I only used 1 stuffed longganisa, just to try out this dish. I let my sister taste this one for me (to get her opinion), as we ate the taquitos, both of us instantly loved it. I guess the longganisa cooked in herbs and tomato sauce was the one thing that made this very interesting.

Everytime we had some meat (longganisa included) delivered here in the house, my sister would request for this, but the problem was the taquito shells - we do grocery shopping once a month only, and the nearest supermarket didn't have some in their shelves. Hopefully, next grocery day, I can include a box of taquitos again so I can let mom and brother taste it, too.

*** Jenn ***