Roasted Tomatillo Enchiladas

A tomatillo is a sticky little vegetable that makes great sauces! I learned this technique from Chef Michael Staver, while taking a Culture & Food course at UIC. He adapted this recipe from Rick Bayless' Roasted Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa. When I got the sauce home, I decide to dress them up as a sauce for enchiladas. Ready for a fantastic mid-week dinner? Here we go!

Roasted Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa
12 tomatillos, husked
2-5 serrano chiles (I used 2, which was super spicy for me at the beginning, but as the sauce sat for a few hours, the spicy factor dissipated- I recommend at least 3... 5 if you are not afraid of los picantes!)
1 large onion, cut in half then into semi-circle slices
3 cloves garlic, papery skin removed
1 cup cilantro (stems are OK!)
salt to taste

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Line a dark-bottom cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the tomatillos and chilies flat on the sheet and pop in the oven. Turn with tongs when one side is blackened, about 5-8 minutes, and continue roasting other side. When both sides are nicely charred (and hopefully before the tomatillos break and ooze all over the place) place in a large bowl.

If the foil has a lot of business on it, line cookie sheet with new foil. Place the onion slices and garlic cloves on a single layer and roast until blackened. (Roasting the onion and garlic will release the natural sugars and really "kick-up the sauce". As Chef Staver told me- "don't short cut this. You will be happy that you took the time to roast everything perfectly")

Place all the vegetables in a blender, along with cilantro and salt and blend into a coarse puree. Done! Try not to east all of it with chips before making the enchiladas- probably the hardest step of this recipe!

Enchiladas (The lazy version, as I did not have time to soak the beans and cook them)
4-6 flour tortillas 
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
1 15 oz can black beans
1 15 oz can refried beans
1 small onion, chopped
olive oil
1/4 cup queso fresco

Line a pan with olive oil and saute onion until translucent. Rinse the garbanzo and black beans and place into pan with onion and cook until hot. Season with salt & pepper.

Take 1 Tbsp refried beans and smear on each tortilla. place a spoonful or two of the bean mixture in each tortilla and roll. Pick up all the beans that fell on the floor. Continue to not figure out that the beans will spill out of the tortillas and curse at them.

Spoon some of the Tomatillo Salsa on the bottom of a 8x8 casserole dish. Place each tortilla in the pan, nestled closely to one another- make them snug. Place more tomatillo salsa on top of the enchiladas.

Cover the pan loosely with foil and turn oven down to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for an additional 10 or so minutes until cheese is nice n' bubbly!