Green Chile Calabacitas (Squash) Enchiladas

By dublinburro

Ingredients

• Green Chile Sauce:
• 3-4 poblano peppers
• 3-4 Hatch peppers or other spicy green chile
• 5 large tomatillos
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons cilantro
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Dash of balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Filling:
• 2 medium squash, sliced
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups Cotija cheese, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 12 medium corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil
• 8-10 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated

Details

Adapted from macheesmo.com

Preparation

Step 1

The Sauce

I kind of just winged this enchilada sauce, but it turned out to be really tasty. I would bet that if you could get your hands on some legit Hatch peppers, it would be even better. I used a mix of poblanos and anaheim peppers which had some heat to them.

I laid out all my peppers on a baking sheet with a few halved tomatillos and then roasted them at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then I took them out, flipped them just to make sure they were cooking evenly, added a few cloves of garlic to the sheet tray, and roasted them for another eight minutes or so.

Once everything was roasted, I cut off the stems, removed the seeds and blended everything with some fresh cilantro.

Then I combined that blended mixture with the vegetable stock, a shot of honey and vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a mixture of cornstarch and water just to thicken the sauce a bit. Let that simmer for a few minutes and you are in business!
The Filling

I wanted to keep this filling on the lighter side so I went with a veggie filling that was mostly zucchini and squash with some crumbled cotija cheese.

For the zucchini and squash, it’s a good idea to cook them a bit just to cook out some of the water. I sliced them (not super thin) and added them to a skillet over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of chili powder.

Cook it for just 4-5 minutes until the veggies start to brown, but you don’t want them to be soggy at all.

Let the veggies cool for a bit and then toss them with some crumbled cotija cheese.

Cotija cheese, if you aren’t familiar with it, is the Mexican equivalent of feta. It’s dry, salty, and crumbles easily. I like it in this filling because it doesn’t melt into just a big sloppy mess.

If you can’t find Cotija cheese, I would try it with feta.

Making the Enchiladas

I don’t do anything fancy when it comes to my enchilada rolling. Basically, if you make a huge mess then you are probably doing it right.

My general set-up goes like this:

1) Add a drizzle of vegetable oil to a small skillet over low heat. Once it’s hot, toss in a corn tortilla and heat it on both sides for about 10 seconds.

2) Use tongs to transfer hot tortilla to green chile sauce.

3) Remove tortilla from sauce and set on a surface. Top with handful of the filling. Roll tightly.

4) Add to a 9×13 baking dish that’s been spread with some sauce which will help prevent sticking later.

So you’ll end up with something that looks like this.

Repeat until you have crammed in as many enchiladas as you can fit and then pour the rest of the green chile sauce over the top.

It’ll be a big, hot, delicious mess.

Top this all with a good amount of grated pepper jack (or your favorite) cheese and you are in business.

You could easily make this dish in advance up to this point if you wanted and then just bake it when you are ready.

Cover the dish with foil and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Then remove the foil and bake it for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the edges are slightly browned.