Authentic Mexican Torta - Tortas Ahogadas Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Authentic Mexican Torta - Tortas Ahogadas Recipe
  • READY IN 3+ hrs

Authentic Mexican Torta - Tortas Ahogadas

Read Reviews (6)

"This is a delicious drowned sandwich that is great for an easy meal your family will love. My children eat these up!" —  

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Original recipe makes 12 sandwiches Change Servings
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Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
  2. Mix the 16 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of minced oregano, 2 teaspoons of salt, and pepper in a bowl. Rub garlic mixture over the pork butt, and place pork in a shallow roasting pan.
  3. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue roasting until pork is tender and no longer pink in the center, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Cover the meat with two layers of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 20 minutes before rough chopping or shredding it. Reserve pan drippings.
  4. Place the chipotle peppers in a bowl, and cover with hot water. Allow peppers to soak until softened, about 3 minutes; drain. Set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in 8 cloves of minced garlic and the chopped onions; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Roma tomatoes, 1 cup of water, chipotle chili peppers, 5 teaspoons of oregano, sugar, and salt to taste. Add the reserved pan drippings. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Pour the chipotle sauce into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the sauce moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the sauce right in the skillet. Strain the sauce through a sieve.
  6. To serve: Hollow out the bottom half of each bolillo to make a shallow bowl for the chopped pork. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the chipotle sauce over the bottom of each roll, then arrange the chopped pork over the sauce. Top each sandwich with a couple slices of pickled jalapeno, followed by the top half of the roll. Pour about 1/4 cup of additional chipotle sauce over the entire sandwich.
Kitchen-Friendly View
  • PREP 40 mins
  • COOK 2 hrs 30 mins
  • READY IN 3 hrs 10 mins

Footnotes

  • Cook's Note:
  • You can add whatever favorites your family likes as toppings, i.e. lettuce, avocado, onions, tomato. These are really easy to make and quite filling.
  • One to two ancho chili peppers can be substituted for the chipotle for a milder sauce.
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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review
Nov 03, 2010

A good family friendly recipe. It wasn't what I would consider hot or spicy. In fact, I was surprised by the blandness. The sauce tasted like plain tomato sauce and we could barely taste the chipotle. I added more chipotles and quite a bit of salt, but still felt like there should have been another layer of flavor. Since I've never had torta before, I didn't know if it needed a little adjusting or if it's really supposed to be a simple tomato based recipe. We ate a couple of the sandwiches like the recipe suggested, but ended up mixing the sauce with the pork and eating as pulled pork sandwiches.

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Most Helpful Critical Review
Apr 04, 2012

Okay, Too spicy to really enjoy in our home.

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7 Ratings

May 17, 2010

I absolutely loved this recipe! It seems labour intensive but it isn't really and what time you do put into it pays off in spades - the taste was full and spicy and just delightfully yummy! My husband and two teenage kids loved them! The pork just melts in your mouth...Definitely making it again!

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Jun 21, 2010

I recently made this for our daughter's graduation party, at which we served a Mexican style menu. While this recipe took awhile, it was WONDERFUL! All the ingredients, cooking time, & instructions were accurate & so helpful. We varied this however, by combining the delicious sauce with the meat & serving it as a chipotle pulled pork on buns. Everyone loved this. Thank you for listing it DeAnna. :-)

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Feb 02, 2011

The rub was great. I did add two of the small red dried chilis, one of the ancho chilis and some jalapenos to the sauce. I also roasted all the veggies before adding to the sauce, It resulted in a really amazing smokey flavor with a little bit of heat. Thank you for a great recipe

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May 04, 2013

Very good :) Being from the land where Tortas ahogadas were born (Guadalajara) I can say that this tasted very similar to what they sell here in restaurants and street stands

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Nutrition

  • Calories
  • 867 kcal
  • 43%
  • Carbohydrates
  • 75.1 g
  • 24%
  • Cholesterol
  • 135 mg
  • 45%
  • Fat
  • 41 g
  • 63%
  • Fiber
  • 5.6 g
  • 22%
  • Protein
  • 47.7 g
  • 95%
  • Sodium
  • 604 mg
  • 24%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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