CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

One of our favourite meals is tacos and we have them regularly in our house. It does mean however that we rarely cook any other Mexican style dishes because as soon as I mention something similar but new, my husband and daughter ask for tacos and I cannot resist either! I did put my foot down last Sunday though and we cooked these chicken enchiladas from Olive magazine.

They took around an hour and I also made guacamole on the side.

Ingredients for 3-4 people:

1 tbsp of olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
Pickled jalapeños, finely chopped (we left these out as we are not keen on spice however I would suggest adding at least 6 to add a little kick - you can obviously add more)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
6 corn tortillas
400g cheddar cheese, grated
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (or you could use the equivalent amount of leftover roast chicken)
A small bunch of coriander, chopped (ours came from the garden and wasn't too sprightly)!
400g tin of refried beans
200ml sour cream to serve
Guacamole to serve

Preheat the oven to 150 C and wrap the tortillas in foil. When the oven is ready, put in the tortillas for around 10 minutes (or as instructed on the packet). Once ready, set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and add the onion for 3 minutes. 

As it begins to soften add the garlic and around a third of the pickled jalapeños (if you are using). Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion and garlic are soft and translucent.

Add the tomatoes.

Then fill half the tomato tin with water, swish it around and add to the saucepan.

Season generously and then cook for another 15 minutes until thick and glossy (not sure mine looked very glossy)!! At the same time preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / gas mark 5.

Now it is time to assemble the enchiladas.

Spread 1 tablespoon on the tomato mixture over one side of the tortilla.

Split the chicken into 6 different portions and add one portion in a thick line down the middle of each tortilla.

Add a handful of cheese - I got Pascal to do this as his hands are bigger than mine!

Add a sprinkling of jalapeños and coriander (keep some coriander leftover to garnish with at the end).

Add a tablespoon of refried beans (these taste much better than they look). We had quite a bit leftover and so served these as a side.

Roll together tightly.

Then place into a ceramic baking dish, seam side down.

Repeat for all the tortillas.

Pour over the remaining tomato mix.

Sprinkle with the leftover cheese (you can always add extra if you have run out).

Cook for 25 minutes until the cheese melts and the enchiladas are piping hot.

Serve with some chopped coriander, sour cream and guacamole (and any leftover refried beans).

These worked out extremely well - it was the perfect lunch for such a miserable rainy day. We all enjoyed it, Pascal and I regretted leaving out the jalapeños to give the dish a little something extra however Arabella was relieved we had. We ended up having to season it again at the end. I will admit we still all prefer tacos but this is a close second. This would work well for a informal supper party as you could prepare the enchiladas before.