Mexican Lasagne Ingredients

Asked by andydog. Answered on 11th January 2014

Full question

I'm curious about the "coriander stalks" asked for in the Mexican Lasagne recipe. I'm assuming this is the same thing as cilantro, and wondering why you use the stalks, and not the leaves? Do the stalks maybe have more flavor? If you could elucidate, it would be much appreciated. Thanks! Ingrid

There are so many different sizes in tortilla wraps. I bought a large size for the Mexican Lasagne but now when I read that you must make a Venn diagram that slightly overlaps I realize I should perhaps have gone for the medium sized tortilla?

Our answer

The sauce for Nigella's Mexican Lasagne (from Kitchen and on the Nigella website) includes finely chopped coriander stalks. Fresh coriander is also called cilantro (if you switch to the US cup measures on the website version it is listed as cilantro) and the stalks and roots have a lot of flavour. I is common to use the stalks and roots in some cuisines and the leaves are best used uncooked or as a garnish.

In the UK soft tortilla wraps sold in supermarkets are a fairly uniform size, though in other countries the sizes can vary. The UK tortillas are about 18cm/7 inches in diameter and tortillas slightly larger or smaller than this will be work well. The very large 30cm/12 inch tortillas will be a bit too large but you could always trim them down with a pair of kitchen scissors.