Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
3 ingredients make Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas
These enchiladas are for cheese lovers. No beans, no meat, no chicken, no shrimp — just cheese. Glorious, melted cheese. ( And enchilada sauce.) If you don’t count the toppings/garnishes, these are three- ingredient enchiladas — sauce, tortillas, cheese. That’s all you need.
We like Monterey Jack cheese, but cheddar is good too, or for a flavor more like what you’d have at a Mexican restaurant, opt for oaxaca.
With such simple ingredients, it’s important to use the best ingredients. We like to make our own sauce and portion it in 1-cup and 1 ½-cup containers and freeze it. That way we can have enchiladas whenever the mood strikes. But canned sauce will work, too, if that’s what you like. You’ll need one (10to 15-ounce) can.
A small (1 ½-quart) casserole dish, such as the Peugeot Appolia dish we feature in today’s Gadgets & Gizmos, works best here. If you don’t have a small baking dish, use an oven- safe skillet or pie plate.
Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, for a couple of days.
Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas
1 ½ cups homemade or purchased red enchilada sauce (recipe follows), divided use
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas 8 ounces Monterey Jack, cheddar or oaxaca cheese, shredded
Desired toppings such as diced avocado, diced tomato, sliced black olives, pickled jalapenos and lime wedges
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour about ½ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a small (1 ½-quart capacity) baking dish. Set aside.
Stack the tortillas and wrap them in a damp tea towel. Microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute or until soft and pliable.
Working with one tortilla at a time, place a ¼ cup mound of cheese in the center of a tortilla. Wrap the tortilla tightly around the cheese and place it, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Once all tortillas have been filled, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle evenly with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake 10 minutes; remove foil and continue baking until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly, 5 to 8 minutes more.
Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then serve with desired toppings.
Makes 2 to 3 servings.
This sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for about 5 days or frozen for several months.
Red Enchilada Sauce
3 large dried red chiles such as guajillo or ancho
1 clove garlic, peeled 1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
¼ to ½ teaspoon cumin seed Ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil 1 cup vegetable broth Kosher salt, to taste Sugar, to taste
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chiles on a baking sheet or in an iron skillet and heat in oven until puffed and aromatic, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Remove stems and seeds; tear peppers into pieces.
Place chiles, garlic, tomatoes, cumin and black pepper in jar of a blender. Puree until as smooth as possible.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Set a fine mesh strainer over pan and pour in sauce. Press mixture with a large spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Cook sauce, stirring frequently, until thickened to consistency of thick ketchup. Pour in vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste sauce and season with salt and sugar to taste.
Makes about 1 ½ cups.