Nachos are triangles of tortilla that have been deep fried until crispy and topped with a variety of spicy tomato and pepper mixture and grated cheese (to brown either under the grill or in the oven).

This nachos recipe makes 30 servings. Please adjust ingredients to the number of guests.

Ingredients

5 tortillas
1 jar tomato salsa dip
Oil (preferably olive oil)
1 red bell pepper
4 spring onions
4 fresh and ripe tomatoes
1 tin re-fried beans
200 grams mature cheddar cheese or desired cheese
3 tablespoon Parmesan cheese (grated)
Cilantro leaves, chopped

Optional - 1 jar of red jalapenos and 1 jar of green jalapenos

Preparation

Stack the tortillas neatly and cut in half with a sharp knife, then cut each half into 3 wedges to give 6 nachos from each tortilla.

Heat about 2.5cm (1 inch) oil in a frying pan until just smoking. Fry the pieces of tortilla, only a few at a time, until they are crispy and browned (just lightly). Turn them once as you fry them. Remove from the frying pan and leave to drain any excess of oil. Now, transfer them to a baking sheet as we are going to place them in the oven.

Place the red pepper into a grill pan and grill until the skin is slightly burnt. When done, leave to cool (careful, peppers can get very hot!) and peel off the skin. Chop the pepper into small squares.

Mix the chopped pepper with the salsa, spring onions and the ripe tomatoes.

Mash the re-fried beans and spread it over the nachos as if it was butter. Top the spread with the tomato mixture.

Now is the time to sprinkle each nacho with the grated cheese (both Cheddar and Parmesan) and place them under a preheated oven, not too hot. When the cheese starts to bubbles and it browns slightly remove the nachos from the oven. Alternatively, you can place the baking tray with the nachos in a preheated oven at gas mark 6 for around 12 minutes (or until the cheese starts to bubble).

Nachos can be served hot or cold, they are a fantastic appetizer. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander, it adds a great final touch.

If desired, add the green and red jalapenos over the nachos but do serve them in separate dishes as some people will not want the hot chilies.

This is a great nachos recipe, easy to make and always very successful with your guests!