Enchiladas

So, every time I've ever claimed to make enchiladas apparently have been false. I usually use flour tortillas and especially make burritos and bake them with some sort of sauce on top. Then I found this recipe from The Pioneer Woman- and figured out I was doing it wrong. So I tried it this way and everyone seemed to dig it. A little time consuming. I did most of my prep work (chopping veggies) during the day and set it aside for later to make things a little easier.

INGREDIENTS:

For the sauce-

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 28 oz can (mild) enchilada sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the meat-

• 3/4 pound ground beef (lean)
• 1/4 pound ground pork (optional- if not use 1 pound beef)
• 2 small cans (4 oz) diced chilis
• 1 larger onion finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

For tortillas-

• 10-14 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup canola oil

To assemble-

• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used mozz but use cheddar if you have it)
• 1/2 cup chopped black olives
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• chopped cilantro to garnish

For the sauce- In a sauce pan over medium heat combine the oil and flour to make a roux. Cook for a minute, then pour in red sauce, chicken broth salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30-45 min until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the meat- Brown the meat with the onions in a skillet. Drain off the fat. Stir in the 2 cans of chilis and season with salt. Set aside.

For the tortillas- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Fry the tortillas one at a time for about 30 seconds on each side. Until soft- not crispy. Set aside on a pepper towel lined plate. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. 

To assemble- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure your sauce has thickened up and is cooled off a little (I didn't do this and it was still super hot when I started rolling up the enchiladas). Dip each tortilla into the red sauce, then place on work surface. Put a little cheese, meat, olives and green onion in each tortilla- roll up- and place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat until all of the ingredients are used. Top with the remainder of the red sauce and shredded cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Garnish with cilantro, olives, green onion.

This did take a little extra time and love- but it really was worth it. I served this with a chunky black bean salsa, sour cream and rice on the side. I'd love to try this recipe again someday with chicken. Cheers!

Adapted from:Simple Perfect Enchiladas