SPICY LAMB CHILI PITA "NACHOS"

Blue Cheese, Pickled Red Onion, Celery, Cilantro

Having no set or concrete plans to watch Super Bowl 50, I decided if I did indeed forgo it, I would at least honor the yearly sport (and entertainment) spectacle with some grub appropriate for the sport, yet elevated for the event.

So only this morning did I come up with an idea for a pita-based nachos dish, topping it with a spicy chili made from ground lamb and a sauce base of NY Chup's Cilantro Lime Ketchup, and seasoned with India-inspired flavors such as cumin, garlic, coriander, curry, nutmeg, chili powder, and cayenne.

I split and cut pitas into quarters. I brushed the pitas on both sides with melted rendered bacon fat, sprinkling some dried oregano on the "rough" sides of the bread. Once toasted I started one layer of pita "chips" on the bottom of a plate, then topped that with the spicy lamb chili, some crumbled blue cheese and sliced celery (like Buffalo wings, another football staple), pickled red onions, and fresh cilantro.

I repeated those steps two more times until I had a lovely tower of aromatic, spicy, hearty, rich, delicious, variably textured awesomeness which wound up becoming a fun sporting-like type of endeavor to eat my way through.