Chicken enchiladas with green sauce

Feel like comfort food with a flair of fiesta? Why not dabble in some homemade enchiladas? Think of these chicken filled, cheese topped tortillas as the Mexican version of good old lasagna. Made with a coriander infused green sauce, this is a meal to write home about.

enchiladas with green sauce

In Mexico this green sauce is generally made with tomatillos, also referred to as the Mexican tomato or the husk tomato. Fortunately they’re related to the gooseberry, so by substituting the tomatillos with kumatoes (greener, more tart tomatoes available from Pick’n Pay) and some gooseberries, a similar flavour is created. Who said cheating was always bad?

Ingredients (Serves 4):

For the green sauce

4 large kumatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 punnet (125g) gooseberries
1 onion, finely chopped
1 chilli
1 bunch coriander
1 tsp smoked salt – we used Falksalt Smoked Crystal Flakes.
½ tub (125g) sour cream
Lime juice

For the filling

1 whole cooked chicken (or 8 chicken thighs)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 ball mozzarella, torn
100g feta cheese, crumbled

8–12 flour tortillas
Mint and coriander for garnishing

enchilada-sauce-ingredients

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Now get cracking on your green sauce. Heat a frying pan and place the kumatoes, garlic, gooseberries, onion and chilli in the centre. Allow the skin of the kumatoes to blacken slightly.
2. Then place all of these ingredients in a blender along with the salt and coriander. Blend to a smooth paste and then add the sour cream.
3. Season to taste with lime juice.
4. Tear the cooked chicken into pieces and place in the centre of the tortillas. Sprinkle over the onion, mozzarella and a sprig or two of coriander and then roll them up individually.

rolling-enchillada

5. Place side-by-side in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheesy centres have melted.
6. Remove from the oven, cover with your green sauce and crumble over some feta cheese. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Serve immediately with fresh coriander and mint and of course extra sauce or some salsa. A beautiful enchilada dish never hurts.

Kitchen-Craft-tabletop

With thanks to Jules Mercer for her beautiful recipes and styling.