By Two months. Sixty days. One thousand four hundred and forty hours. Megan's countdown app knows this. I know this because Megan's countdown app told me this morning while I was trying to eat cereal.
The bachelor party happened this week. "Party" is a strong word. Ryan organized it — eight guys from the brewery and a few friends from Bay View, at a bar in Walker's Point. We drank beer. We played darts. Ryan gave a toast that was ninety percent inside jokes and ten percent genuine emotion. He said, "Jake, you're the best dude I know, and Megan is way out of your league." Everyone agreed. I agreed. Megan is way out of my league. I got lucky. I know I got lucky. I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve the luck.
The bar had a kitchen and at some point, slightly drunk, I went behind the counter and convinced the cook to let me make pierogi from their ingredients. I made improvised pierogi using pizza dough and cheddar cheese. They were terrible. Everyone ate them. This is the power of drunken pierogi — they don't have to be good. They have to be made by a guy who can't stop making them even at his own bachelor party.
Megan had her bachelorette the same night — Jen organized it. I don't know the details. I know they went to a wine bar and a karaoke place and Megan came home at 1 AM singing "Don't Stop Believin'" and ate the leftover pizza in the fridge and fell asleep on the couch in her sparkly sash. I covered her with a blanket and cleaned up the pizza and went to bed and thought, two months. Two months until forever.
Those bachelor party pierogi were objectively bad — pizza dough doesn’t have the right chew, bar cheddar isn’t meant for dumplings, and I was, let’s say, not at peak culinary focus. But the spirit of the thing? Folding something warm and cheesy together with whatever’s available and handing it to people who love you? That I want to hold onto. This Fold-Over Tortilla Bake is the version I’d make sober, the week after, when the sash is put away and the darts are back on the board and I’m standing in my own kitchen thinking about two months from now.
Fold-Over Tortilla Bake
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 large flour tortillas (10-inch)
- 1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chunky salsa, divided
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions, for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray or a thin coat of olive oil.
- Brown the meat. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add taco seasoning and water, stir well, and simmer 2–3 minutes until the liquid reduces and the meat is coated.
- Build the filling. Stir in the black beans and 1/2 cup of the salsa. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
- Assemble the tortillas. Lay the tortillas flat on a clean surface. Spread about 1 teaspoon of sour cream across one half of each tortilla. Spoon the meat filling onto that same half, then top with a generous layer of shredded cheddar (reserve about 1/2 cup for topping). Fold each tortilla over to close.
- Bake. Arrange the folded tortillas on the prepared baking sheet, slightly overlapping if needed. Brush the tops lightly with olive oil. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup of salsa over the tops and sprinkle with the reserved cheddar. Bake 18–22 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cheese is bubbling.
- Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest 3 minutes before cutting. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with extra sour cream on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 460 | Protein: 27g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 43g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 860mg