My husband loves Mexican food. Loves.
As in, when you see those memes that say “I love you more than cake”… This is his cake. Though I’m sure if I look hard enough, someone has created one that says “I love you more than Mexican Food.”
So over the course of 17 years together, you can imagine that I have tried literally hundreds of taco, burrito, and fajita recipes. The mix of different flavors is pretty spectacular – oregano, cinnamon, and, oh the chili powders. If you happen to have a good little spice store near you, I have become totally obsessed with ancho and chipotle. So. Good.
Chris is not terribly into deep-fried dishes, so it took me a while to venture into things like flautas and chimichangas. I had to spend some time (and trial and error) crafting them to be bakeable. (Is that word?)
Here’s what I learned:
If you roll/brush/douse a tortilla shell in olive oil or butter, it will bake up to be lovely, crispy and delicious. Like the less naughty, more healthy, and equally craveable version of frying. It just lets you feel way better about partnering dinner with that Corona or Dos Equis.
You didn’t really think I was going to convince you to give up all things fun, did you?
In the case of this recipe, I like to dig into my yummy list of spices (see above) like chili powder, cumin and oregano to give it a punch. The key to making sure you capture every bit of flavor, though – season twice. So while you have your spices out, mix them in two batches. The first container will be a little more heavy-handed – with a 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder and cumin, and 1 teaspoon of oregano. The second container is a bit lighter. Just 1 tsp of the cumin and chili powder and 1/2 tsp of oregano. Add salt and pepper to both.
Take your first spice container and toss the contents into some chicken broth. Place chicken breasts in the seasoned liquid and bring the whole lot to a simmer for about 20 minutes or so. Both the chicken breasts and the broth will soak up your seasonings, and you will end up using these in your assembly. (In other words, don’t dispose of the broth when the chicken is cooked.)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you get started on chopping your veggies.
I have a confession to make. I love chopping veggies. It somehow seems relaxing. My kitchen also ends up smelling nice and fresh. I get it, I’m a little odd.
Okay. Chopped veggies. Heat a medium-sized sauté pan and coat it with a couple of rounds of olive oil. Toss the peppers, onion and garlic in and cook for 5-6 minutes, until they soften a bit. Remove your pan from the heat and take your second container of spices and add it into your veggie mixture.
When your chicken is cooked, you can shred or chop it and toss into your saute pan. You don’t need to heat your filling mixture here, it will warm up in the oven, and is actually a bit easier to handle when not piping hot.
In a casserole dish, brush 1 tbsp of melted butter to coat bottom. This will help the underside of the chimichangas to get crisp. It will also keep them from sticking to the dish itself. You can substitute olive oil here, if you prefer.
I like to line a few shells in my pan (at least to start out with, and I still have room). Ultimately, you will have a little assembly line here. Layer your tortillas with cheese and a couple of scoops of your filling mixture. Pull the “ends” of the tortilla up and fold them over the fillling, then fold over the remaining open sides, so they get tucked in.
Flip the tortillas so that they are seam side down in the casserole dish. They should be small enough at this point that you can line them up down the pan in two rows. Use your remaining 2 tbsp of butter to brush over the tops of the chimichangas to help them brown and crisp up. As before, you can use olive oil here, if butter isn’t your thing. Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes.
If you are like my husband, at this point you find all kinds of excuses to walk through the kitchen every five minutes just to enjoy the smell. Or to pick at any leftover shredded chicken available. And also to wait incredibly impatiently for these to come out of the oven. Upon which, I invite you to serve these with whatever toppings are your fave – guac, salsa, sour cream…. Dinner is between you, your imagination and some awesome chimichangas.
Ingredients
For poaching chicken:
- 3 chicken breasts
- 3 cups of chicken broth
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 Tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper
For the filling:
- 1Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 can diced green chiles or one small diced jalapeño
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup reserved poaching liquid
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 12 six inch flower tortillas
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Combine chicken broth, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper in a saucepan
- Place chicken breasts in the seasoned liquid and bring to a simmer
- Poach chicken for 20 min, or until cooked through
- Allow to cool and shred chicken
- Reserve 1/2 cup poaching liquid
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Heat medium sized sauté pan and coat with the olive oil
- Toss in red bell pepper, onion, chiles/jalapeno and garlic and cook until softened
- While veggies are cooking, mix together remaining chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper
- Remove vegetables from heat and toss in seasonings and shredded chicken
- Slowly add reserved poaching liquid until the seasonings coat the other ingredients
- In a 9X13 casserole dish, brush 1 tbsp of melted butter to coat bottom
- One shell at a time, layer cheese on a tortilla shell and top with chicken mixture
- Wrap up each end and then roll sides over to form and envelope
- Place the filled shells seam side down in the casserole dish
- Line them up next to each other in two rows down the length of the dish
- When all the shells have been filled, use the remaining 2 tbsp of butter to brush over the tops
- Place chimichangas in the oven and bake for 45 minutes
- Serve with sour cream, salsa, gaucamole or other toppings you enjoy
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