Chicken Chilaquiles

Submitted by ncmysteryshopper

"Chilaquiles is a Mexican dish originally created to use up leftovers. It's traditionally made with corn tortillas, chiles, cheese and meat that are either tossed together and sautéed or layered like lasagna and baked. This recipe is a little differnt from the ones posted as it is creamier. You can use any type of leftover meat in this dish....it is scrumptous! You can also leave out the meat and add spinach or portabella mushrooms for a vegetarian version. From Grace Parisi of Food and Wine. Feb 2003."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs fresh tomatillos, husked rinsed and halved
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 large jalapeno, halved lengthwise stemmed and seeded
• 1⁄4 cup packed cilantro
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon coriander
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1 lb shredded beef (3 cups) or 1 lb fresh spinach, at room temperature (3 cups)
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded monterey jack pepper cheese (6 ounces)
• 1⁄2 cup farmer cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 scallion, sliced
• 8 cups tortilla chips (one 6-ounce bag)
• 1⁄4 cup sour cream
• salsa (optional)
• guacamole (optional)

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeño and cilantro until smooth. In a large saucepan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the cumin and coriander and cook over high heat until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the tomatillo puree, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce loses its bright green color, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with 3/4 cup of the pepper Jack, the farmer cheese, scallion and half of the tomatillo sauce; season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, toss the tortilla chips with the remaining sauce.
3. Spread half of the chips in an 8-by-11-inch baking dish; top with the chicken and cover with the remaining tortilla chips. Don't pack the chips down. Dollop the sour cream over the chips and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup of pepper Jack. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is browned. Serve at once.

Reviews

[jswetmore]

So, so good!!! My husband loved it too. Nice change up from the usual dinners. The tomatillos sauce is just amazing. My only issue is I wish I knew a secret to keeping the chips from getting soggy.

 

[chicana_peach76]

OMG, my family loved it! Be sure to cook your tomatillos or it won't taste quite right ;)

 

[lazyme]

Delish! This was a simple and tasty dish. I'd never had tomatillos before and discovered that I liked them. I used leftover chicken and added extra pepper jack cheese because I couldn't find farmers cheese. I served this with a rice casserole and salsa and guacamole on the side. Thanks NcMysteryShopper for a new first.