Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

Living in California during my younger years gave me an affinity for everything Mexican, especially corn tortillas.  Moving to the Northeast made it difficult to find the type of corn tortillas I loved so much; however, much to my surprise, I found one of the best corn tortillas made right here in Vermont.  Vermont Tortilla Company makes one of the best stone ground corn tortillas I have ever tasted and they are what I use in all of my recipes calling for corn tortillas.

My family loves chicken enchiladas so I decided to change it up a bit and make them unwrapped and stacked in a lasagna.  The results were fantastic and it is now a quick and easy way to have the taste of chicken enchiladas without all the rolling.  Some people make their enchiladas with flour tortillas but I prefer the whole grain of corn over the flour plus, the flavor is fabulous.  Here’s how to make them:

Start by getting the best corn tortillas you can find.  I prefer the ones from Vermont Tortilla Company because they use organic stone ground corn, they are sturdy enough to use in the layering process, and the taste is wonderful.  The pack has 10 tortillas.

Next, shred 2 cups of cooked chicken either leftover, from a rotisserie chicken, or boiled or baked.

The next thing you will need is 2 cups of grated cheese.  You can use cheddar, Monterey jack, Cotija, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, or a blend of cheeses.  In this case I had cheddar and Monterey jack available.

Open a 28 oz. can of ground tomatoes or tomato puree and either pour it into a bowl or just add to the can as I did, 1 tablespoon of chopped chipotle chilies with adobo sauce, and 1 tablespoon of chili powder and mix well.

Now that you have all of your ingredients together, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x7x 2.5 inch deep baking dish.  If you want to use a larger dish, you will need to double the ingredients.

Start by placing 2 tortillas in the bottom of the dish and cover with some of the sauce.

Next, layer with some cooked chicken and then some of the cheese.

Continue layering until you get near the top of the dish where the last layers will be tortillas, sauce, and cheese at the top.

Cover dish with foil and place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

When finished baking, remove from the oven, take off the foil, and garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro.  Allow to sit a few minutes before slicing and then garnish each serving with more chopped scallions, cilantro, and if desired a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.  Enjoy and happy cooking!

Prep Time: 30 min                                                    Cooking Time:  40 – 50 min

Difficulty: Easy                                                           Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees         

9x7x2.5 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray

1  28 oz. can ground tomatoes or tomato puree

1  tablespoon chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

1  tablespoon chili powder

2  cups cooked shredded chicken

2  cups grated cheese (Cheddar, Monterey jack, or a blend of cheeses)

Fresh Corn Tortilla Shells

1  bunch chopped scallions for garnish

1  bunch chopped cilantro for garnish

2  cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for garnish