Hello everyone,

In case you haven’t noticed, I have an unusually high proportion of Mexican recipes In my blogs. I’m unsure as to how “authentically Mexican” a lot of these recipes are, but I do my best! Either way, homemade Mexican food is always tasty and fun.

The secret to these enchiladas is the homemade ancho chili sauce. If you happen to have whole dried ancho peppers at home, you are in business. Ground ancho peppers work too, and if all else fails, you can substitute for regular chili powder.

As for the filling, the recipe starts with my general mish-mash of Mexican goodness: an assortment of vegetables fried with jalapenos and garlic, chili powder, ground cumin and black beans. If you want your enchiladas vegetarian, you can leave it at that, or if you’re an omnivore such as myself, you can try adding any meat you like. John and I had leftover pulled pork in the freezer that worked just swell for these enchiladas.

When I made my enchiladas, I put them in disposable pans. Some I baked for dinner that night, and others I froze for an easy dinner at a later date.

This is a tasty recipe for sure, and a real crowd pleaser! Mexican comfort food at it’s best (although isn’t all Mexican food comfort food?)

Bon appetit,

Julie

Click here for printable Word version of recipe:
Enchiladas with Ancho Chili Sauce

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Enchiladas with Ancho Sauce

Makes 8-10

Ancho Sauce

2 dried ancho chillies, stemmed and seeded or 2 tsp ancho chili powder – if you don’t have ancho, use regular chili powder
2 cups water
Cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups  vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
2 tablespoons  tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Filling

Cooking oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
8 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tomato diced
3 tsp ancho chili powder (or whatever chili powder or combination of powders you have on hand)
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp paprika
1-2 tsp salt
1 can black beans
1 lb cooked meat of choice (pulled pork, ground beef, chicken etc.)
or for vegetarian
1 extra can of black beans, cooked rice, or cooked pieces of sweet potato
Water

2 cups grated cheese

8-10 soft large tortilla shells

Garnish

Cilantro
Lime juice
Sour Cream
Valentina’s hot sauce

 

DIRECTIONS:

Ancho Chili Sauce

1. Put dried ancho chili in pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove peppers and slice into small pieces (skip this step if using chili powder. Save the water.
2. In a medium pot, fry onion in oil for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for another minute or two.
3. Add sliced ancho chilies / chili powder. Add salt.
4. Transfer mixture to food processor or blender. Blend with 1 cup of the chili water. Blend as smooth as possible.
5. Transfer mixture back to the pot. Add 2 cups vegetable broth, salt, oregano, cumin, tomato paste, red wine vinegar and red pepper flakes
6. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until sauce thickens. IF you are having trouble getting it to desired consistency, add 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup water.

Filling

1. Heat a large pan. Saute onion in cooking oil for about 5 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic, saute for a minutes.
2. Add mushrooms, and green peppers, saute until they are cooked.
3. Add tomato and spices. Mix well and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add beans and meat/sweet potatoes/rice. Stir well. Add about a ¼ of water to moisten the mixture, more if needed.

Enchiladas

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Put about ½ cup of the ancho sauce on the bottom of a large baking pan.
3. On a tortilla, add about two scoops of the filling and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll tortilla, closing both ends.
4. Place all tortillas in baking pan seam side down. Top with remaining ancho sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes.

 

Garnish with any combination of cilantro, lime juice, sour cream and Valentina’s hot sauce.

 

Alternatively, you can pre-make a pan and freeze before cooking to be eaten at a later date!