Chicken Stacked Green Enchilada recipe

Serves 2

Prep: 20 mins. Cook: 50 mins

This is a variation on the Chicken Green Enchiladas I wrote about recently. Rather than roll up the enchiladas I wanted to try stacking them, almost lasagne style, to make a dish that sits up on the plate more. 

 

Ingredients

• 400g chicken thighs
• 250g  shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
• 1 large white onion
• 5-8 fresh tomatillos or a large can (794g) of tinned tomatillos, drained. 
• 1 green chili (to taste) - I used a jalapeno from the batch I froze back in September. 
• Handful of coriander
• 1 tbsp chili powder - I used chipotle powder
• Oregano flakes (I used Mexican oregano)
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 lime cut into quarters, plus the juice of 1 lime
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• Cumin powder
• Generous glug of green chili sauce - I used El Yucateco Jalapeno but you can use Green Tabasco, which is widely available.
• 6 small (4 inch) corn tortillas - I used home made tortillas, but you could cut 4 inch circles out of Discovery corn tortillas to get the same result. 

Method

1. Boil chicken with salt, black pepper, oregano, lime quarters and chili powder until chicken is completely done and shreds easily (about 30 minutes). 
2. Allow the chicken to cool in the liquid then shred the chicken and season liberally with  chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and a generous splash of green chili sauce. 
3. If using fresh tomatillos, husk and wash them - if using canned, just drain them. 
4. Place tomatillos into blender and add garlic, green chili pepper, coriander, and lime juice. Puree. 
5. Finely dice the onion. Add 3/4 of the onion to the shredded cheese. 
6. In a heavy skillet, light fry the tortillas in vegetable oil, then pat dry. 
7. For each enchilada you need 3 tortillas. Place the first in a lightly oiled baking sheet and spread a  spoonful of tomatillo, some of the chicken and a sprinkle of the cheese & onion. Balance another tortilla on top and repeat the layers. Finally, top with a tortilla, tomatillo sauce and more cheese. 
8. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 15 minutes. 
9. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. 
10. Sprinkle remaining fresh onion over the enchiladas and serve.