A Mexican cousin of lasagne, a baked enchilada casserole is as tasty as its Italian counterpart and three times easier to make.
Enchiladas et al
I am by no means an expert on Mexican cuisine but at least I know which way my tortilla is rolled.
Not rolled at all, warm tortillas in a basket are served with fajitas: grilled meats or vegetables.
Folded in half and filled with cheese and other stuff – that’s quesadillas.
Pile the filling in the middle and wrap it around it like a parcel and you’ll make a burrito (hence wrapping up in a blanket like a burrito).
Tacos are folded like a shell and filled with things; nachos are crispy tortillas cut into chips.
And enchiladas are filled tortilla rolls, covered with sauce and baked in the oven.
When is enchilada not an enchilada?
That’s a good question, and considering the textbook definition, my dish should not be called enchilada, since the tortillas are not rolled up! Technically speaking, this is a recipe for stacked or layered tortilla bake, with the filling of chicken and beans, baked with cheese and enchilada sauce.
But seeing as the inspiration is reputable, the filling is Mexican in flavour, the cheese is lavish and the sauce is easy but made up from authentic ingredients, I’ll stick to my guns and call it an enchilada bake. Only slightly deconstructed.
How to prepare the chicken filling
You can use cooked, leftover or rotisserie chicken, in which case you’ll need about 200 g: the equivalent of four thighs, or half a small chicken.
Cooking from scratch, as usual, is better because it allows you to season the chicken with taco seasoning, shop bought like I do or mixed at home. Bone-in thighs have better flavour and, rubbed generously with the seasoning, they will only take about half an hour to cook in the oven. Let them fully rest, then pull off the skin (or leave it on if you’re partial to it), strip the meat off the bones and shred or slice across the grain.
Ready-cooked chicken will need to be seasoned with the taco spice. And then, whichever way you arrive at your shredded chicken, mix it with drained and rinsed black beans from a tin.
How to make easy enchilada sauce
The proper way is to soak dried ancho chillies, then pound them to a paste. But ancho or similar mild chilli paste is easily available and that makes the job quick and easy, and probably only moderately inferior in flavour. And it’ll still be nicer than using a sauce from a jar, though frankly, nothing terribly wrong with that either.
Just put all the spices, onion, garlic and tomatoes in a blender and blitz to a sauce, adding a little water so it’s quite runny.
The amount of sauce in the recipe is far too much for one dish, at least unless you want it very soupy. But it keeps well in the fridge for a few days and freezes well, and it works great also in pasta bakes.
Assembling the enchilada bake
A large gratin dish will do well here, or a deep baking tray, something you would use for a lasagne too.
The casserole should not be swimming in the sauce and you can either dip each tortilla in it or spread it over them when arranging in the dish.
First cover the bottom with two or three tortillas, overlapping slightly, then sprinkle some cheese and half the chicken. Repeat for another layer, and finish with tortillas and any remaining cheese.
You can use any size of tortillas for this casserole, as well as use flour or corn ones, depending on the preferences. You’ll obviously need more of the smaller ones, and the large tortillas can be cut as required.
Baking the bake
Cover the dish with aluminium foil for the initial stage of the baking so the dish doesn’t dry out. The last ten minutes or so should be done uncovered, to let the cheese turn brown and melted and wonderful.
To serve
The usual Tex-Mex accoutrements can be put on the table when serving this dish: pickled jalapenos, soured cream topping, salsa or pico de gallo. But if all you have is a plain green salad, you won’t go wrong with it either.
And as with many dishes, next day’s leftovers are the tastiest, even at room temperature.
More Mexican recipes
Authentic steak fajitas with tender bavette aka skirt steak, peppers, and onions, marinated in a spicy Tex-Mex mix then served sizzling in warm tortillas. Fajitas were originally the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) fodder at the Texas cattle ranches – and they are not the same as tacos!
Cream cheese and Cheddar stuffed jalapeno peppers, baked in the oven for a delicious snack or appetiser. Much healthier than deep fried jalapeno poppers but none the less tasty.
Corn tortilla chip nachos with easy homemade beef chilli, sweetcorn and cheese. Homemade nachos are the perfect recipe for a crowd-pleasing supper or snack.
More cheesy bake recipes
Korean cheese buldak, chicken chunks in a spicy sauce covered with a layer of cheese melted under the grill, is just as tasty as it sounds. I add mushrooms to the chicken, to bump up my plant intake, and they go deliciously with the dish.
Chorizo and sweetcorn filo pastry pie with a cheesy layer of ricotta and cheddar mix is a delicious weekend family brunch dish or a dinner party centrepiece since it’s perfectly good to prepare ahead.
Cheesy sweet potato tray bake with bacon, peppers and tomatoes. Sweet potato wedges are seasoned with Creole spice, and the bacon is totally optional.