Enchiladas Rojas (Red Enchiladas)

Traditionally enchiladas are either green or red, depending on whether you use red or green tomatoes to make the sauce. In fact, table salsa usually is also green or red for the same reason.

Again I made these with cottage cheese as a filling, but you can use anything else you want. Shredded chicken and pork carnitas are popular, and tasty, fillings.

Fresh from the oven!

As with the past enchilada recipe, I'll post the salsa apart from the rest:

Salsa
Ingredients:

4-5 red tomatoes
1/2 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, quartered
Cilantro to taste (about 3-5 branches, stems and all)
2-4 Serrano chilies, or other small green chilies.
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup water.

Blanch the tomatoes and peel them, or peel by your preferred method. I tried roasting them this time, at first, but I had trouble doing so. Next quarter them and put them in the blender, removing the core and seeds first. Add the other ingredients to the blender and liquefy the whole thing. You may want to do this in two batches unless you have a big blender. BTW this is the time to taste the salsa and see whether it's too hot or no hot enough, and to adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Pour the salsa into a deep saucepan or pot and turn the heat on low. Let it come to a boil slowly, stirring from time to time. Let it boil for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Then remove from heat and set aside.


Enchiladas
Ingredients:

The salsa from the previous step
200 gr. Cottage cheese (or more)
70 gr. grated white cheese suitable for melting
2 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream (optional; personally I don't like it in my enchiladas)
Fresh, wide, corn tortillas, as many as necessary
Chopped onion to taste

First the tortillas handle better when hot. My preferred method is to heat them on a comal on the stove. A comal is a flat, round piece of thin metal that holds 3 or four tortillas. If you don't have one, you can use a wide skillet, or even put them in the microwave for thirty seconds wrapped in a clean kitchen cloth.

So, heat the tortillas a few at a time. Carefully, as they're hot, spoon some cottage each on one and fold it in on itself. Place it on an oven safe baking dish with the fold side down. If it opens as soon as you let go, you have the wrong kind of tortilla. Repeat as many times as necessary. In the photo above there are about 8 enchiladas.

Next pour salsa generously on top, making sure to cover all the enchiladas. Try not to use it all, as a reserve may come in handy later. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on top and, if you want, the sour cream as well.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 300 degrees F (you may want to pre-heat the oven before you get started) for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and serve.

For serving, put freshly chopped onion on the table to sprinkle on top. Also perhaps additional salsa, as you should have some left over. If you reheat them in the microwave, BTW, they tend to dry out. When I reheat them I pour some salsa on them before putting them in the microwave, so they'll be moist when done.

I also like to serve them with Mexican rice.

Bonus recipe:

For making red chilaquiles, simply use the same sauce recipe and pour it over tortilla chips. Fried chips keep better, but baked chips do well for a fresh serving. Top with chopped onion. Some people like adding grated fresh cheese and sour cream as well.