Enchiladas Espinacas

One of my favorite restaurants in town, Lorenzo's has these delicious spinach enchiladas that I love!  This was my rough attempt to re-create them....no idea if it's even close or not - but they were pretty darn delicious!  Pretty proud of this recipe too as I've never made any enchilada like this and just went for it.  Hope you like it too!  This is vegetarian, but unfortunately not GF, as many of my mexican recipes are...sorry to my GF friends!  And I almost put it in the healthy category, but I think the butter might have zero'd that out...oh well, enjoy - I know I did!

Enchiladas Espinacas
makes 12 enchiladas
1/2 of a white onion, finely minced
2 serranos, trimmed and roughly chopped
3 poblanos
9 oz. bag of fresh spinach, chopped
1 and 1/4 lb. white or crimini mushrooms, stems trimmed and roughly chopped
7 cloves of garlic, minced and divided
6 Tbs butter, divided
1/3-1/2 c. flour
1 and 1/2 c. milk (I would recommed 2% or whole)
1 and 1/2 c. chicken broth
salt and pepper
12 oz. asadero, quesadilla or monterey jack cheese
12 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Preheat the broiler.  Slice the poblanos in half length-wise and place on cookie sheet.  Broil for about 10 mins, until the poblano skins are blistered and blackened.  Let cool.  Turn oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the skins and remove the stem/seeds.

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 Tbs of the butter over medium heat.  Add 3 Tbs of the minced onion and 3 of the minced garlic cloves.  Saute until onions are tranlucent and garlic is fragrant, about 4-5 mins.  Add the milk and chicken broth.  Using a wire whisk, slowly whisk in the flour until the sauce is slighty thickened to a soup-like consistency.  Roughly chop 3 poblano halves.  Place in a blender with 1 c. of the chopped spinach and the serranos (remove serrano seeds or leave some or all in - depending on how spicy you like it).  Pour in about half of the milk mixture and blend.  Return to the sauce pan and stir together.  Let simmer for a bit to let the flavors come together.  Season to taste with salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp. of each).

In a large skillet, heat remaining butter over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms, season with salt and saute until they begin to release their juices, about 5 mins.  Add the remaining onion and garlic and saute about another 10 mins.  Dice the remaining 3 poblano halves and stir in.  Working in batches, add the remaining spinach and stir in (about 1-2 cups at a time).  Saute until spinach wilts down.  Stir 1/3-1/2 c. of the enchilada sauce into the spinach mixture until the entire mixture is moist.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Spread a little enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 pan, just to coat (you may need to use an additional smaller pan to fit the last few enchiladas).  Heat some vegetable oil in a medium skillet over med heat.  Once warm, heat a tortilla, turning once, until the tortilla is soft and pliable.  When removing, let excess oil drip off.  Fill the tortilla with a large spoonful of the spinach mixture and a small sprinkle of cheese.  Place in baking dish and repeat.  One all the enchiladas are prepared, cover with the remaining sauce and top whatever cheese is leftover.  Bake for 15-20 mins, until enchiladas are warmed through and cheese is well melted.  Garnish with sliced onion, tomatoes and any other toppings you like (cilantro, avocado, etc).