Cookbook Club – Guerrilla Tacos

For August’s Cookbook Club we used Guerrilla Tacos, a compilation of the recipes LA local Wes Avila created for his very popular taco truck of the same name. To get a taste of all the tacos, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish!

I know, I know – this is a taco recipe book. But when I saw this pasta dish which Avila described as “what Mexican moms give you when you ask for mac and cheese”, my mouth started to water. Then he went on to say “Kids love it. Stoners love it. Cooks love it.”, and that sealed the deal for me.

I browned rigatoni in bacon grease (the recipe called for lard, but I didn’t have any and figured bacon grease would suffice), removed with a slotted spoon, and set aside.

In the same pan, I browned ground beef. I used a slotted spoon to set that aside as well.

I put chopped white onion in that same pan and sautéed until translucent, then added garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, parsley, and black pepper and cooked about 30 seconds until aromatic.

I added the cooked ground beef and tomato sauce and simmered for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, I boiled the browned pasta until al dente, then poured out all but 3 TBSP of the water.

I returned the pasta to the stove over medium-low heat and added the meat sauce, Monterey Jack cheese, and cheddar cheese. I cooked about a minute until the cheese was melted, then added salt and pepper to taste. I tasted it and immediately understood why kids, stoners, and cooks love it. Definitely a keeper.