Easy Enchiladas
Cook Time: ~45 Minutes
Here is a recipe that will allow you to serve 4-6 people at once with relatively minimal effort. Or, as I typically do, simply make enough so that there are leftovers for the following day. Chicken, tomato, chipotle, tortilla, and baked cheese. Whilst this carb-fest is not the cleanest of meals, it’s one of the guilty pleasures that I enjoy cooking on the weekends from time to time.
Note, the recipe I share here (using four tortillas) will create four fairly hefty enchiladas. If the party of four have big appetites this will suffice. If you have a party of, say, six, then you could simply add an extra two tortillas, and create six lighter enchiladas.
Serves: 4-6
Time: ~45 Minutes
Information - What you require
Ingredients
Don’t fear the lengthy ingredient list. There are two components to this dish; the filling and the sauce. But the way I will instruct you to cook them will follow a natural order.
The Filling
• Chicken breast (500g)
• Cheddar cheese (250g)
• Mozzarella cheese (125g, drained)
• 2x Bell peppers
• 2x garlic gloves
• 4-6 Tortillas (large)
• 1x Bunch of fresh coriander
• Chilli powder (1 tbsp)
• Ground cumin (1 & 1/2 tsp)
• Smoked paprika (2 tsp)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Ground black pepper & salt
The Sauce
• Passata (500ml)
• 1x Lime
• Black beans (400g)
• 1x Red onion
• Chipotle paste (1 tbsp)
• Dried oregano (1/2 tsp)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Ground black pepper & salt
Optional Ingredients & Notes
No specific notes from me, but don’t be afraid to ignore the guidelines on the quantities of individual herbs and spices. If you want to add 3 teaspoons of paprika instead of 2, go ahead. If you want more oregano, fire away. Lastly, it’s challenging to make this dish aesthetically pleasing, so don’t bother. The taste is what will have you repeating this dish.
Equipment
• Medium frying pan
• Deep baking tray
• Medium-sized bowl
• Cheese grater
• Tin foil
Mise En Place - Food preparation
Extract the juice from your whole lime. Thinly slice your peppers, onions and garlic. Shredd your cheddar and mozzarella cheese as finely as your grater allows. Drain your black beans. If you wish, you may mix together your mixture of paprika, chilli powder and cumin, as well as measure out your quantity of oregano.
Cooking Process
This dish has three stages. First, the filling is prepared and placed into an oven. Second, the sauce is prepared whilst the filling cooks. Third, the two are combined and placed into the oven for one last time. If you manage your time as I instruct, the process should flow naturally.
Stage 1: Filling Preparation
Start by throwing your whole chicken breasts into a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and add your mixture of paprika, chilli powder, and cumin. I like to season with pepper and salt here too. Ensure your breasts are coated with the spice mixture and place them inside a deep oven tray alongside your sliced peppers. Cover the top of the tray with tin foil and place into an oven at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes. Later, we will shred the chicken, but we’ll come back to that after the sauce.
Stage 2: Sauce Preparation
Place a frying pan on moderately high heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add your sliced onions. The objective here is to soften and break down your onions, so we will allow them to sizzle for 5 minutes. Following that, throw in your garlic, mix the two, bring down to heat to medium, and continue frying and stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes, until the onions are soft. Once soft, lather on your passata, sprinkle over your oregano and add a dollop of chipotle paste. I tend to season with salt and black pepper here too. Ensure your ingredients are thoroughly mixed (we want to avoid burning the onions on the bottom of the pan) and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Once the ten minutes are up, add lime juice and your black beans, mix them together, and remove the pan from the heat.
Stage 3: Filling, Meet Sauce
By now, around 20-25 minutes should have passed. Ensure your chicken is cooked and remove it from the oven. Take your chicken aside and with two forks in hand (or whatever method you prefer) shred the chicken, before adding to a bowl with the peppers and 1/4 of the sauce that you just prepared. This will be the filling of your enchiladas.
Take your tortillas, and carefully spread them out across your deep oven pan (I tend to use the same one I cooked the chicken in). Fill each of your tortilla shells with equal measures of chicken filling. The next part can be awkward but the objective is to cover your filled tortillas with the remainder of the sauce mixture, ensuring each tortilla shell is folded shut. I find that folding one tortilla first and adding the weight of the sauce helps it stay shut, and will repeat that process for each, before adding any leftover sauce to the complete set of tortillas.
Next, you will want to evenly distribute your mozzarella and cheddar cheese over the top and place the tray into the oven for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is crisp and begins to brown ever so slightly.
Once browned, scatter on some chopped coriander to serve. As I noted earlier, don’t worry too much about whether or not your enchiladas look aesthetically pleasing. As you can see (below), mine doesn’t look too special, but the taste is what is important.
If you do attempt this dish, please let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. Also, this newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you feel you know someone who would enjoy this publication please share it.
Thanks for reading,
Conor