Enchiladas have to be one of the most comforting Mexican meals out there. What I love about them is that you can adapt the ingredients to what you have in your fridge, whether it is leftover rotisserie chicken left from the weekend, shredded beef from a stew, or, in this case, pulled pork.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
●Igredients
●Instructions
●Serve
Ingredients
●4 large plum tomatoes (about 1.4lb/650g), quartered
●1 medium white onion, cut into chunks
●3 cloves garlic
●3 tablespoons olive oil
●2 to 4 dried chiles de árbol, stemmed and deseeded
●1/4 cup water
●1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
●1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
●1 teaspoon ground cumin
●4 cups (640g) carnitas or pulled pork
●1/2 cup vegetable oil, divided, as needed
●12 corn tortillas
●2 cups (8 ounces) grated Monterey Jack, cheddar, or Chihuahua cheese
●1 cup sour cream, for serving
●1 small red onion, finely diced, for serving
●1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, for serving
Method
1.Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
2.Roast the vegetables for the sauce:
Add the quartered tomatoes, chopped onion, and garlic cloves to an oven-proof dish around 9 x 13 inches in size. Drizzle with the olive oil and tuck the chiles under the tomatoes (to keep them from burning).
Bake until the tomatoes and onions are tender and lightly charred on the edges, about 30 minutes.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and add the water while it is still hot. Use a wooden spoon to stir and scrape up all of the roasted bits from the bottom of the dish.
3.Blend the enchilada sauce:
Place all the roasted vegetables, chiles, and juices into a blender. Add the salt, pepper, and cumin and blend until a smooth sauce forms. If needed, add more water (up to 1/4 cup) to reach the right consistency. Set the enchilada sauce aside.
4.Warm the filling:
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F/180°C. Place the leftover carnitas or pulled pork in an oven-proof dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until warm, about 20 minutes.
5.Warm the tortillas:
Meanwhile, prepare a medium frying pan with half of the vegetable oil and warm it up over medium-high heat. When hot, add a corn tortilla (or multiple tortillas in a single layer, depending on the size of your pan) and lightly fry for about 30 seconds on each side. Don’t let it get too crispy—you want the tortilla to be pliable and sturdy.
Place the tortilla on a large plate or tray and repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Add more oil to the pan as needed.
6.Assemble the enchiladas:
Once the filling has been heated and the tortillas are ready, add roughly 1/3 cup of carnitas to a lightly fried tortilla and sprinkle with cheese (you’ll be making about 12 enchiladas).
Wrap the tortilla around the filling into a taquito-like shape and place it into a medium-sized baking dish (about 7 x 11 inches). Repeat with the rest of the filling and tortillas until your dish is full (reserving about half of the cheese for the top), nestling the enchiladas next to each other in a single layer.
7.Add the sauce and cheese and bake:
Pour the enchilada sauce on top of the enchiladas and distribute evenly. Top with the remaining grated cheese.
Bake until the cheese fully melts, about 10 minutes.
Serve immediately while the enchiladas are still warm. Add spoonfuls of sour cream on top and garnish with the onion and cilantro, as desired.