Enchilada Lasagna

This was an experiment which was quite successful and I will repeat over and over again in the future. This "lasagna" can be done with regular pasta noodles, corn or brown rice tortillas or I made it with crepes.  I did takes pics of the prep and cooking process,  or I thought I did....Until I realized the card was not in the camera...Yeah...

What you will need...

For the chicken

2 large boneless,  skinless chicken breasts or 3 smaller ones (you can also use chicken thighs)

1 small can of green chilies

1 14 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 small onion chopped

2 tbsp of chili powder

1 tsp of cumin

1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped

For the enchilada sauce (you can do that ahead of time and store in the fridge).

3 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of flour

1 14-16 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup of chicken or veggie broth (or you can use water)

1 1/2 tbsp of chili powder

1 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 tsp of cumin

1 tsp  of garlic powder

1 tsp of brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and whisk  in flour until combined, for about a minute. Add in the rest of the ingredients,season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer for 10-15 min.

For the "pasta" layers..

You can use brown rice tortillas, corn tortillas or regular lasagna noodles. I made mine with grain free crepes. If you are using tortillas, microwave them for about 30 sec, it makes them more pliable and easier for assembly. You can slice the tortillas into strips (using a pizza slicer).

Extras

1/2 can of re-fried beans (optional)

1 cup of your favourite cheese (I used a tex-mex shredded cheese mix, but chedder or Jack cheese would work well too)

How we prepare it...

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Coat a large heavy bottom pan with oil.  Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat sprinkling it with all the dry spices listed above, 5-7 min. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Saute onion, garlic and jalapenos in chicken drippings until tender, 2-3 min. Add in the tomatoes and green chilies. Return chicken to pan and cook for additional 10-15 min, or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove chicken from pan and let cool slightly until you can touch it and then shred it. Return shredded chicken back to tomato/chilies. Add in half of the enchilada sauce to the chicken and reserve the rest for the lasagna.

Now let's put it all together. 

 Spread the refried  beans on the bottom of a 8x8 glass baking dish. 

If you are not using refried beans, just add a couple of table spoons of enchilada sauce to the bottom of the dish. Arrange your noodles/tortillas strips, top with chicken and enchilada sauce. Repeat until you get to the top. Top layer should be sauce and cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 25 min. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 min, without removing foil.

Top with chopped cilantro, avocado and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Sooo good!