Three-cheese enchiladas

South of the border

These are more like gourmet enchiladas than your typical Mexican or Tex-Mex enchiladas (not that they do not have gourmet food there). I used to live in Texas (Houston and Corpus Christi) and learned quite a lot about Tex-Mex cooking. It has taken me a while to get just the right combination of ingredients, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the recipe. I cook them as a main course and friends and family rave about them. They are fairly easy to make also. One other comment – I make them with flour tortillas rather than corn tortillas, but if you prefer corn, go with them.

Ingredients (5 servings):

• 4 ounces – medium-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 16 ounces – Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 15 ounce container – ricotta cheese (part-skim)
• 4-ounce can – diced mild green chilies
• 3 – green onions, diced
• ¾ cup – calamata olives, chopped
• canola or olive oil – enough to coat a pan (may need to add more as you remove tortillas)
• 10 – flour tortillas about 9 to 10 inches in diameter
• 10 ounce can – enchilada sauce or use my recipe for enchilada sauce
• ½ cup – water
• 2 ounces – medium-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 cups – medium salsa

Preparation:

Mix the cheddar, Monterey Jack, and ricotta cheese along with the chilies, green onions, and olives together in a bowl.

The cheese mixture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the enchilada sauce and the water in a pan large enough to lay the tortilla in it flat (do not heat the sauce). Cover the bottom of a similar size pan in oil and place over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, take a tortilla and dip it into the oil, coating both sides.

Tortilla in hot oil

Then place the tortilla in the enchilada sauce and turn to coat.

Tortilla in the enchilada sauce

Place the tortilla on a plate and add a generous amount of the cheese mixture and roll it up in the tortilla (you will need to divide the cheese mixture evenly among 10 tortillas).

Preparing the tortilla

Place the rolled tortilla in a baking dish. My baking dishes hold five rolled tortillas so I need two baking dishes (see photo). Continue the same process until you have filled all ten tortillas with the cheese mixture.

Rolled tortillas in the baking dish

Add salsa to the top of the tortillas in the baking dishes and sprinkle with an additional 2 ounces of cheddar cheese. Cook for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Finished dish

J. Botticelli