More tacos to share! I served these full-flavored vegetarian tacos for our Cinco de Mayo celebration this year- with margaritas, chips, and guacamole, of course.
The recipe was adapted from The Essential Mexican Instant Pot Cookbook: Authentic Flavors and Modern Recipes for your Electric Pressure Cooker by Deborah Schneider. I used a stove top pressure cooker instead of an instant pot, but this filling could be prepared just as easily without using a pressure cooker at all. The creamy avocado sauce was amazing!
The original recipe is for “quesotacos” which the author describes as black-belt street cooking, made by browning a layer of cheese right on a griddle, scooping it up with a tortilla, and using that to wrap the filling. I opted to serve the filling over the shredded cheese in a traditional taco form. This wonderful filling is also used in enchiladas in this book. Yum!
Yield: Serves 4 to 6, with about 1 cup of Avocado-Tomatillo sauce
For the Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce:
- 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and peeled
- 2 tomatillos, husked and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup diced white onion
- 1/2 serrano chile, stemmed (and seeded, if desired)
- 1 T water
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- leaves from 2 sprigs cilantro, chopped (about 1 T)
For the Mushroom Tacos:
- 3 T olive oil
- 1 large white onion, cut into 1-inch dice (2 cups) (I reserved 1/4 cup of the onion for the sauce)
- 9 garlic cloves, minced (3 T)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 large portobello mushrooms, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 to 10 oz cremini mushroom, sliced or cut into quarters
- 8 to 10 oz white button mushrooms, sliced or cut into quarters
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves or shredded fresh epazote
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 poblano chiles, roasted, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 12 corn or corn-wheat tortillas
- 1 1/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese or grated Cojita cheese
- Avocado-Tomatillo sauce, for serving
- chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
To Make the Sauce:
- In a food processor, combine the avocado, tomatillos, onion, Serrano Chile, water, and salt.
- Pulse until fairly smooth, about 10 pulses, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add the cilantro and pulse a couple of times to combine.
- Transfer to a bowl, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt if needed.
Note: The Sauce will keep well for 24 hours, covered and refrigerated.
To Make the Filling:
- Place poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Broil the poblano chiles in the oven, rotating every 5 to 7 minutes, until charred and blistered on all sides. (I set my oven to Broil Max at 450F.)
- Wrap the chiles in the foil lining, to loosen the charred skin with steam.
- When cool enough to handle, peel, seed and dice the roasted chiles.
- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, instant pot, or dutch oven.
- Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until golden brown.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.
- Add the water, salt, portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, and white mushrooms, then stir in the cilantro/epazote.
- If using a pressure cooker or instant pot, secure the lip and cook on high for 1 minute. (Alternatively, cook the mixture in a Dutch oven until mushrooms have released a significant amount of moisture and are lightly browned.)
- Use the quick pressure release. (I rotate the valve into a perpendicular position on the top of my pressure cooker.)
- Set a colander in a bowl. Pour the mushroom mixture into the colander, reserving the liquid in the bowl.
- Set the colander aside and return the liquid to the pot.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until syrupy and very thick.
- Return the mushroom mixture to the pot and stir in the black pepper, pepper flakes, and roasted and diced poblano chiles.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until heated through.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, as desired.
- Serve the mushroom filling in warm tortillas over shredded Monterey Jack and crumbled feta. Top with sauce, minced cilantro, and extra cheese, as desired.
For “Quesotacos”: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly oil, place a tortilla in the pan and toast for about 3 minutes, until golden brown. Turn the tortilla and top with 2 T of Jack cheese and 1 T of feta/Cojita. Continue toasting until cheese is melted, about 3 minutes more. Top with mushroom mixture, sauce, sprinkle of cheese, and pinch of cilantro. Serve immediately.
For a Grilled Corn & Mushroom Variation: Add kernels from 2 ears of grilled corn to the pot after adding the roasted poblano chiles.
thebrookcook 