Frito Pie

I know. After I write this post about Frito pie I will need to create a new identity, dye my hair, and move to Far North Dakota, the frozen tundra… Frito pie? Really Marye?

Umm… yeah. Really.

I would love to tell you that I made homemade chili and hand fried the corn dough for the Fritos but I don’t lie. Real Fritos, Wolf Brand Chili (no beans), a hunk of cheddar, and some sour cream. Welcome to my happy place. No one ever leaves. It is like the sailors in the Lotus Eaters:
But, propped on beds of amaranth and moly,
How sweet—while warm airs lull us, blowing lowly—
With half-dropped eyelids still,
Beneath a heaven dark and holy….

I was first introduced to Frito Pie at a sixth grade football game.  We had recently moved to Texas and I was a shy, plump adolescent with a Philadelphia uptown accent and knee socks. No girl in Texas wore knee socks past the age of 8 in the 1970s. The mamas were all ready teaching those girls about Texas big hair and pantyhose. Not one of the guys realized that in 12 short months I would sprout a chest the size of the Rocky Mountains and my waist would shrink to the point I looked like a wasp. Hello, boys.

But that was a year away. That first game I was encouraged by my mom to get out, meet people, learn to fit in… so I stood uncomfortably by the bleachers trying to figure out what to do with my hands. All of a sudden a guy carrying a frito bag sauntered by. The Frito bag was sideways and cut open and something dark and spicy and wonderful seemed to be poured across the top.

“Um, where did you get that?”

He gave me a disdainful look and nodded over at the concession stand. I headed over there and tried to figure out what it was…Frito Pie.

The first bite had me hooked and the second created those half dropped eyelids…

Honestly? I never did fit in. Jr. High was painful and High School was unbearable. But… I did learn how to make killer Frito Pie.

Sunday is the Superbowl. I am still not a big football fan but if you are or you are married to someone who is then you will be happy to know that Frito Pie is a 3 minute dinner. You can make it in a casserole OR it would be fun for Superbowl Sunday to get the snack size bags and create Frito Pie high school football stadium style. Just open the bag sideways and dump in the chili.

And it is good.

But please, don’t tell anyone where you got the recipe. I have an image to uphold. ‘K?

One more thing.

Frito Pie, delicious as it is, is not very photogenic.

Authentic Texas Frito Pie

Ingredients

• 8 snack size bags of Fritos or 2 regular size bags (about 8 ounces)
• 2 24 oz cans Wolf Brand Chili, no beans
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups shredded cheddar

Instructions

1. Heat the chili
2. Place Fritos in a lightly oiled casserole
3. Cover with the chili
4. Cover top with cheese
5. Heat until cheese melts
6. Serve sprinkled with onions and sour cream if desired

Serves 8

The nutrition is estimated based on what I could do. It is an ESTIMATE based on the information I have…

images: maryeaudet

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