Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This hearty Chicken Enchilada Casserole is a comforting but healthy family meal that is perfect for weekends or weeknights!

One of the unexpected ‘perks’ of running a food site is that my ‘office’ has more or less become a makeshift wine cellar for yet-to-be-reviewed bottles from across the globe. Recently, I posted about a small case of a half-dozen bottles of various Garnacha spanning the region of Aragon, which I received quite by surprise. One of those bottles remains on the side table adjacent my desk, which I decided to add to my ‘cellar collection’ due purely to its very unique label – a vinicultural heresy, I know. The bottle features a bright floral labeling with a pair of prominent trees, and is at first quite pleasant to behold, betraying the naturalist tendencies of its makers and their ecological philosophies. However, on closer inspection, the label is quite, shall we say, odd. The floral scene fades, and the trees begin taking on amorphous, almost-humanoid shapes, with blank eyes peering out from the label. I’m quite certain there’s a modern-art message behind these ‘trees’ that eludes a humble classicalist like myself. Nevertheless, I now regard the bottle with a sort of fearful Lovecraftian reverence that the winemakers, I’m sure, never intended.

Strange trees aside, I found myself quite envying that floral scene this morning. With ‘autumn in New York’ quite nearing its end, the icy air that greeted me upon waking left me pining for a summer that I had only just begun to fully appreciate. This spurred my mind down culinary avenues I hadn’t considered for quite some time. At first, I found myself thinking about the sort of food I would want ‘merely’ on a chilly day such as this. Then, however, as the shock of the morning air wore off, and the daze of sleep cleared from my eyes, I began, instead, trying to pair food with this New York weather, and perhaps, as well, to the Garnacha behind that eerie labeling.

Immediately, I thought of simple home favorites such as hardy soups, stews, and various savory pies. However, I wanted to put together something a fair bit less predictable, and found myself reaching back to an old family favorite that I used to prepare on occasion for busy weeknight meals – tortilla lasagna. In that older version, which I used to prepare for my kids, I used tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream as the base. However, I wanted to up the old favorite a few notches with a coriander and cumin roux and a from-scratch chicken salsa.

First things being first, I started with a chicken salsa. I started out by sautéing onions, garlic and jalapenos in olive oil in a large cast iron pan. I then added in crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, shredded roast chicken, and dark beer.

After preparing a roux spiced with cumin and coriander as shown below, I buttered a casserole dish, and began the fun part – layering. First, layer a half-cup of the roux in the bottom of the casserole dish, then arrange four tortilla halves over the sauce. Over the tortilla halves set two cups of the chicken salsa, shredded cheese, and chopped olives. Repeat this layering until you’ve filled the casserole dish, then bake uncovered for about forty-five minutes.

Now, you’re not quite done if you want to do this right, which of course you do. Take the casserole out of the oven, top it with about a half-cup of cheese, then bake for an additional five minutes. Then garnish with sour cream and salsa, and eat.

Now you’re done.

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In the end, I couldn’t have been happier with how the enchilada casserole turned out, and it paired quite lovely with the icy air. Oddly, though, I still couldn’t bring myself to open that eerily labeled bottle of Garnacha.

Enjoy with Love!