Enchilada Sauce

Chile Roja Sauce Recipe

Red chile sauce is delicious for dipping chips, smothering burritos, or cooked in cheese enchiladas. Although, to me, it is not as day-to-day tasty as salsa verde, homemade red chile sauce is still an excellent condiment to add rich depth of flavor to your Mexican and Tex-mex dishes.

ENCHILADA SAUCE RECIPE

10 dried red chile pods

¼ cup fresh cilantro, oregano, or basil

2 large cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of lime juice

2 tablespoons of orange juice

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of black pepper

Special Equipment: Food processor or blender

METHOD

Remove the stems and seeds from the chile pods and toast them in a large sauté pan over medium heat until fragrant.

While the chiles are toasting, bring three cups of water to a boil.

When the chiles have toasted, transfer them to a bowl, pour the boiling water over them and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the chiles to steep for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the fresh herbs, garlic, lime juice, orange juice, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.

When the chiles have steeped for 30 minutes, place them in the food processor and reserve two cups of the steeping liquid.

Process the ingredients until smooth, slowly adding the reserved chile liquid a little at a time.

Strain the mixture into another container through a fine-mesh sieve.

Eat with a chip!

Come back Wednesday for my enchiladas rojas recipe!