Taco Bueno - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans (optional)
2 (1 1/4 ounce) packages chili seasoning mix (1 mild and 1 spicy)
1 small onion
4 garlic cloves
2 (8 ounce) packages Mexican blend cheese (shreaded, reserve 4oz for topping)
22 ounces tortilla chips (plain round)

Preparation

Brown ground beef in a 3-5qt oven safe pan (Dutch oven) and put aside on paper towels to drain.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of the fat from the browned meat in the pan.
Finely chop the onion and garlic and add to the pan cooking over medium low heat till onions are translucent.
Return meat to the pan also adding the spaghetti sauce, kidney beans, and chili seasoning.
Once the mixture is heated through set aside in a bowl leaving a thin layer of chili mixture in the pan.
Now we can begin layering with a single layer of chips, a layer of chili mixture, and a layer of cheese.
Repeat the last step till you run out of the chili mixture.
To top off the cassarole crush some of the remaining chips and add them to the reserved cheese and sprinkle over the top of the cassarole.
Bake the cassarole covered for 20 min at 350F.
Then uncover and bake for the remaining 10 min.