Ground Pork Enchiladas

The enchilada sauce is this recipe is creamy, dreamy and just abounding with flavor! I used a recipe that my daughter brought with her many years ago when she moved back home. The original recipe of hers was for chicken enchiladas. For these ground pork enchiladas I changed it up a bit and wasn't the least bit disappointed!

I've seen pork enchiladas made with pulled pork and they intrigued me. If you have some left-over pulled pork then enchiladas would be the perfect make over meal! In my case I did not, however I was craving some Mexican-style food and using ground pork seemed like the next best thing.

Turns out I was correct. The blend of pork, spices, onions and garlic, black beans and corn mixed with cheese and some of the delicious enchilada sauce came together beautifully. The flavor profile was absolutely spot on.

This recipe makes quite a bit of filling, enough to fill all ten tortillas in the package and maybe a little more. All of the ingredients cost me $14.78, feeding 10 portions for $1.47 each. If you have a large family this is perfect.

Everyone loves a change up to the same ol', same ol' and to go Mexican flavors is a sure way to bring the family together to the table. I served the dinner with some salsa on the side along with some sour cream and a little extra dices of fresh bell pepper and black beans for garnish.

This recipe is terrific for entertaining as well. There's not a lot of cost to the meal itself and your guests will be very pleased at the end of the meal. And when the meal is done, linger over coffee and conversation with my Easy  Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Tart. It's simple and delicious and looks like you fussed a whole lot (but you didn't).

Get the prep work done ahead for this and it goes fairly quickly. By that I mean dice the vegetables, mince the garlic, drain and rinse the beans, etcetera.

• 1 lb. ground pork
• flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cheese - Mexican blend or Monterey Jack
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. container sour cream
• 2 - 4 oz. can green chilies - chopped
• 1 cup black beans (rinse and drain the beans)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup onion - small dice
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper - small dice
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper - small dice
• 4 tbsp. butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 large cloves garlic - minced
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper or more to taste

1. Dice the onions and bell peppers and mince your garlic.
2. In a deep skillet over medium high heat add in the pork in chunks and break down with a wooden spoon. Add in the chili powder, oregano, salt and black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Turn the pork and saute until it's cooked about 85 percent. Remove to a waiting bowl.
3. Add the butter to the pan and saute the onions and bell peppers for a couple of minutes.
4. Next, to make the roux, add the flour to the pan and mix well to combine. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the raw taste is cooked out of the flour. You'll smell that the flour takes on a nutty smell when it's cooked properly.
5. Slowly pour in the chicken broth and using a whisk combine and cook over medium heat, whisking continually until the sauce has thickened, then pull the pan off the heat and add in the sour cream and whisk well to completely incorporate into the sauce.
6. Add the diced green chilies to the sauce and stir.
7. In a large bowl combine the pork, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, the black beans and corn and about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce. Mix well.
8. Fill the tortillas with the pork  mixture and roll up.
9. Arrange the tortillas, seam side down in a 9" x 13" oven proof baking dish.
10. Spoon the remaining sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
11. Bake in a preheated 350° oven  for 15-20 minutes until it's bubbly and the cheese is melted. Then for added browning of the cheese, use the broiler keeping an eye on it. Takes maybe 3-5 minutes to brown nicely.

The assembled enchiladas are ready to bake!

 And when they come out of the oven they look like this!