I know it's been a while. I went to Italy for a month - more on that later! - and I was so excited getting ready for the trip that this project kind of got dropped. But I'm looking forward to sharing my adventures with you and venturing into Italian food with you!
Now - you would thing that would be a segue into a recipe for something Italian... Buuuuuuut - no.
We're having enchiladas!
Okay - the list of ingredients looks intense - but stay with me. It's TOTALLY easy to make an enchilada sauce from scratch and it tastes WAY better than store bought.
Combine the onion and jalapeno, salt, and oil in a large pot and cook over medium-low heat until the vegetables are soft.
Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar. Stir together and cook briefly.
Stir in the tomato sauce and water.
And stir in the tomato and cook until thickened.
Next, add the chicken and poach it in the enchilada sauce.
After the chicken is cooked through, remove from the pot and shred the chicken.
Then, strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer. Make sure to press on the onions to get out all the liquid.
Add the shredded chicken to the onion mixture.
Stir in one cup of the sauce and the cheese.
And the cilantro.
Warm up the corn tortillas in the microwave and spread 1/3 cup of chicken mixture down the middle of the tortillas. I like to do two or three at a time so the corn tortillas stay pliable.
Spray the enchiladas lightly with cooking spray and bake in the preheated oven for about 7 minutes to crisp up the tortillas.
Remove the enchiladas from the oven, pour the reserved enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and evenly spread the cheese over the sauce.
Cover with foil and place the pan back into the oven and bake until heated through.
I have actually made these enchiladas in a beef version - just a tiny bit slightly different - so it's actually hard to tell if there is actually any difference in the end result. But EQUALLY delicious.
Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and shredded lettuce. While the enchiladas aren't spicy, they do have a deep smoky heat to them that you can cool up with those toppings.
You could also do a cilantro lime rice for the side. Salad is also a great choice.
