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A man holding a Torta Ahogada. He is wearing a black t-shirt and blue shorts.
Kate Ramos

Torta Ahogada

The Torta Ahogada (or drowned sandwich) is a savory sandwich made famous in the Mexican State of Jalisco. Filled with pork carnitas, pickled red onions, and refried beans then smothered in a spicy sauce made from chiles de arbol.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Sandwiches
Cuisine: Mexican
Calories: 298

Ingredients
  

For the sauce

Method
 

For the Sauce
  1. 1. Simmer. Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, arbol chiles, and guajillo chiles in a medium saucepan and fill with water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until tomatoes start to split, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
  2. 2. Blend. Using a slotted spoon transfer the vegetables to a blender. Add oregano, salt, cumin, allspice, pepper, and vinegar. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid from the vegetables and blend on high until smooth. Be careful blending hot ingredients.
  3. 3. Warm. Pour out remaining cooking liquid from the pan and pour the sauce back in the pan. Cover and keep warm over low heat.
for the torta
  1. 1. Warm carnitas. Heat carnitas in the microwave or in a skillet until hot. Cover and keep warm.
  2. 2. Heat beans. Heat broiler to high. Cut baguette in half lengthwise and spread beans on one half of the bread. Set on a baking sheet. Place the other half, cut-side-up, next to it on the baking sheet. Broil until beans are warm and bread is toasted, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. 3. Assemble. Top the beans with the carnitas and onion. Close sandwich with the other half of the bread. Set on a cutting board and cut into 4 sandwiches. Set each torta in a shallow dish.
  4. 4. Drown. Ladle sauce over each sandwich until it is completely covered with lots of sauce in the dish. Serve immediatley.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 17gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 793mgFiber: 6gSugar: 9g

Video

Notes

You can either make the carnitas, refried beans, and pickled red onions from scratch or by them at your local Latin market.

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