No bake enchiladas with carrot sofrito

You guys are going to love this !! Its such a simple, healthy and yummy dish. It's so attractive its hard not to give it a try.

I kept the recipe vegan as I am trying to stay away from cheese. But feel free to experiment. You can easily substitute the carrots with zucchini, beets or even potato if you are not a big carrot fan.

No bake enchiladas with carrot sofrito

(Recipe adapted from food and wine magazine)

Carrot sofrito

• 1 1/4 pounds carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 pound tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt

Enchiladas

• 9 ounces queso fresco, crumbled (about 2 cups) (Leave out for vegan )
• 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• Canola oil, for warming
• 12 corn tortillas
• Salsa verde from a jar or verde enchilada sauce.
• Mexican crème or sour cream, for drizzling (Leave out for vegan)

Make the carrot sofrito

Preheat the oven to 225°. In a food processor, pulse the carrots, onion and garlic until very finely chopped. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes to the food processor and pulse until nearly smooth.

In a medium, deep ovenproof skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the carrot mixture and a generous pinch of salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened slightly and nearly dry, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours until the carrot sofrito is very soft. Season with salt, cover and keep warm over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Assemble the enchiladas

In a medium bowl, toss the crumbled queso fresco with cilantro and red onion. (I omitted this step and stuffed my enchiladas with the sofrito and topped the entire dish with more of the sofrito and finely chopped red onion and cilantro. Don’t skip this step.

In a small skillet, heat a tbsp. of oil. Add 1 tortilla at a time and cook till pliable, about 20 seconds. Repeat with other tortillas. Once done work quickly and roll a scant ¼ cup of the cheese mixture or the sofrito like I did. Roll and assemble on your serving dish, seam side down. Spoon the remaining sofrito on top, drizzle with salsa or enchilada sauce. Top with chopped red onions and cilantro. Drizzle crema if using. Serve with more salsa.