Enchiladas Verdes

When tangy tomatillos ripen at the end of summer, I get a hankering for Enchiladas Verdes (green enchiladas) . I used to think that tomatillos were little green tomatoes, but I found out they are actually not tomatoes at all, but related to the gooseberry. The ancient Aztecs grew them and gave them the name miltomatl. Best eaten when green, they come wrapped in a papery husk, which must be removed before cooking. They are high in pectin, which helps thicken sauces. Roasting the tomatillos, chilies and garlic enhances their flavor.

Makes 8 enchiladas

Salsa Verde

10 large tomatillos (about ½ pound), husks removed

1 ½ small spring onions or 1 small white onion, peeled and halved

3 large garlic cloves. Cut the root ends off and peel the garlic

2 poblano chilies

2 jalapeño peppers

4 Serrano chili peppers (This will make a spicy sauce. Use less chilies if you want a milder sauce)

1 ½ tea. salt (to taste)

juice of one lime

1 cup cilantro leaves, plus a few for garnish.

1/3 cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)

1 tea. minced fresh oregano leaves (or ½ tea. dried oregano)

1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth Roz’s Jewish Chicken Soup

Enchiladas

8 corn tortillas (homemade are best!)

3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (1 large whole breast). See Roast Chicken

OR one pound ground turkey

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese and/or 1/4 cup cotija cheese

Olive oil cooking spray

You can make the sauce and filling ahead of time, then assemble and heat right before serving.

Preheat oven to 350’ Coat a roasting pan with a neutral oil such as canola or grapeseed oil. Spread  pepitas on pan and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place pepitas on a plate to cool.

Remove stems, seed pod and ribs from chilies. Keep some seeds and ribs in if you want extra spiciness. Place chilies and onions in pan and roast for 15 minutes and flip with tongs.

Add garlic and tomatillos and roast for 15 minutes more,  Flip over tomatillos and garlic and roast another 10 minutes until chilies are charred and soft, and onions, garlic and tomatillos begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. You can do this part a day ahead and pop the veggies in the fridge.

After pepitas cool, grind them in a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder. If you don’t have a grinder, you can run them in a food processor. Reserve a few whole pepitas for garnish.

Add roasted vegetables, ground pepitas, lime juice, oregano, cilantro, salt and 1 cup chicken soup and blend until smooth.

Bring sauce to boil in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce is thick and coats the spoon. If it is too thick, add up to 1/2 cup more broth.

While sauce is cooking, shred the chicken breast. Stir in about 1 1/4 cups of sauce to the chicken breast and reserve the rest. Heat sauce and chicken in the saucepan over medium heat until the sauce permeates the chicken, about 10 minutes. Let it cool until you can handle it. Again, you can do this part ahead of time.

You can also make this dish using ground turkey. Brown one lb turkey and drain fat. Add 1/2 cup sauce to turkey and let it cook 5 minutes until sauce permeates it.

Assembling the enchiladas: preheat oven to 350’

Traditionally tortillas are dipped in hot oil before coating with enchilada sauce. I use olive oil spray to cut down on the fat. I only bake with some of the sauce, so the enchiladas won’t get soggy. I pour heated sauce on the enchiladas just before serving.

Pour half the warm sauce into a shallow bowl. Lightly spray each tortilla with olive oil spray before heating briefly on the comal or heavy frying pan. When tortilla is hot and soft, dip it into the sauce so that it coats the tortilla on both sides.

Place tortilla on a plate and place a few tablespoons of the chicken or turkey inside the tortilla

then roll it up.

Place seam side down on a baking pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. Continue with all tortillas. Spoon the sauce that’s left in the bowl over the enchiladas (about ¼ cup).

Bake at 350’ for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle grated cheese over enchiladas.

Put back in oven for 5 minutes so that cheese will melt.

Heat remaining sauce until hot. When you remove the enchiladas from the oven the second time, pour hot sauce on and around the enchiladas. Garnish with cilantro leaves and whole roasted pepitas.