If wings are king in the arena of great tailgate foods then nachos must be the queen. But the traditional restaurant serving piled high on a hot platter? We have some notes. First off: it’s an unequal distribution. Have you ever eaten a pile of traditional nachos with a toppings hog? It can end a friendship. Second: 100% of the good stuff is on the very top layer. Which means there’s an inevitable point reached where the rest of the ‘nachos’ are just chips with nothing on them. Tragic. Fret not, the answer to all your nacho needs rests in the use of the humble sheet pan. When spread into an even layer, slightly overlapping, generously dressed with shredded cheese and artfully dolloped with tantalizing toppings all over, everyone at the table gets the best bite every single time. All hail the queen.
SHEET PAN NACHOS with SMASHED BLACK BEANS
Tortilla chips (about a half bag of your favorite kind)
Smashed black beans, see recipe below
1 ½ – 2 cups shredded cheese (we like a Mexican blend)
Jarred salsa, of your choice
About 1 cup guacamole, store bought or see our recipe below
Sour cream
Pico de Gallo
Pickled jalapenos
Pickled red onions
Cilantro leaves (optional)
Smashed Black Beans:
2 cans black beans
2 tbsp oil (olive or grapeseed)
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
¾ tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Salt
Guacamole:
3 ripe avocados
3-4 ripe cherry tomatoes, minced
Pinch Mexican oregano (if you have it)
Juice of half a lime
Salt, pepper to taste
Make the smashed black beans: heat oil in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic cloves and cumin and let them warm in the oil, about thirty seconds to one minute. As soon as you can smell the garlic/ spices, drop in two cans of black beans and add salt. Bring up to medium-high heat and let it bubble a bit, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and use a potato masher or immersion blender to smash the beans up a bit, releasing their starch. Continue to cook on low for about 10 more minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. The beans should be thick, not soupy, like refried beans with texture.
Make the guacamole: dice avocados into a medium sized bowl. Add minced tomatoes, oregano if you have it, lime juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Smash with a potato masher or the tines of a fork until it reaches your desired consistency. Cover until ready to use.
Assemble nachos: once the black beans are ready and your guac is prepped, line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Scatter tortilla chips across in one, dense layer. Add about ½ of your shredded cheese, pile on a few more chips and a little more cheese. Drizzle a little jarred salsa all over and then dollop smashed black beans all over. Top with the remaining cheese. If you have any meat or chicken you’d like to add to these, add it before the second pass of cheese.
Bake in a 325 oven until all of the cheese is melted completely and the edges of some of the outer chips are a bit toasted. About 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and work as quickly as you can to add the other toppings. We drop a bit of guacamole and sour cream all over, a scattering of fresh pico de gallo and a few pickled jalapenos and pickled red onions. If you like it, a few cilantro leaves are a nice addition here as well. Serve immediately.
Here’s a PSA for you busy folk: these sheet pan nachos are an excellent dinner that everyone in our house loves. Also, if you love pinto beans they are an excellent substitution for the black beans here. Just follow the same instructions, subbing in two cans of pintos instead.
BEVERAGE PAIRING SUGGESTIONS
With salty chips, melty cheese, spiced black beans and ALL the toppings, nachos are a riot of textures and flavors. As with any multifaceted fare, pairing wine with this is a fun challenge. In our opinion, you can’t go wrong with a fresh, crisp white that has a little tropical fruit flair to it. Our first choice here would be La Val Albariño. A crisp and breezy Spanish white that shows clear straw-yellow in the glass and opens with aromas of lemon, white flowers and herbs. On the palate it’s fresh and juicy, with punchy citrus notes and a long, lingering finish.
If we’re thinking about what red works with these, a near perfect match would be a California cabernet franc. We have two options in that category that we love. First up is admittedly a bit of a splurge; but we personally love pairing simple snack food with fancy wine. The Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc shows garnet colored in the glass with enticing aromas of red stone fruit and violets on the nose. On the palate, this franc is elegant and inviting, with juicy tart red fruit flavors, balanced acidity and a zippy finish. If you’re looking for a bottle that’s a little more budget friendly, try the Cosentino Winery’s The Franc. With inviting aromas of blueberry, cedar and cocoa powder, on the palate this wine is loaded with dark berry fruit, hints of lilac and star anise. Juicy, easy-drinking and velvety on the finish, this is a real crowd pleaser. Please note that we only stock Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc in our Milton location. The Franc is available in both stores.
If you’re looking for something canned, obviously almost any beer under the sun would be fantastic here. Especially classic Mexican lager like Modelo. We also think a juicy New England IPA would fit the bill nicely. Widowmaker Blue Comet NEIPA is one of our best selling beers and we think it would work perfectly here. A ripe nose marked by tropical fruits is followed by a plush mouthfeel and a soft, malty finish. The hops here are highly aromatic but refined and nicely integrated, making it a juicy brew that can hold its own with all the flavors and textures going on in these delicious nachos. A canned cocktail would also be an awesome match. We really like the Nantucket Lime Tequila and Soda. It’s super fresh, thirst quenching and perfectly portioned for enjoying during the game.