Festive Enfrijoladas.

Enfrijoladas is such a humble dish and I remember my Mum and Grandma preparing this for us on a normal day after school, lightly fried tortillas were smeared in a smooth black bean sauce, filled with a bit of fresh cheese or shredded poached chicken, folded gently, served with a drizzle of crema and finely chopped raw onion, just by writing down all of this it instantly takes me back to those days when you felt safe and nurtured by your Mum’s love.

That is why I chose this dish as my vegetarian option, as it is very special and homely! the way you want your family and relatives to feel during the holidays, I always think that you should receive your guests the way you like to be welcomed into someone else’s home, and I’m not talking about a special kind of service it’s just that care of making someone feel at home, and most importantly the vegetarians in our family should also feel important and included.

In my recipe the lightly fried tortillas are filled with all of my best-loved veggies, swede, leeks, carrots, chestnut mushrooms, aubergine and seasoned with black garlic, Mexican spices and rosemary; feel free to adapt the filling to the vegetables that are available where you live, I do recommend to live the chestnut mushrooms and leeks as they bring so much goodness to this dish. instead of smearing the tortillas I serve my taquitos on a pretty serving plate and pour the gorgeous black bean sauce on top. By the way my sauce it’s also enriched with mushrooms, Mexican died chillies and a good vegetable stock.

This is easily adapted for vegans just substitute the creme fraiche and feta with vegan alternatives, could be a nut based cheese and oat or cashew cream, as these are only the finishing touches to this dish it’s something that it’s quite simple to swap.

Happy Holidays!

Makes about 18 small enfrijoladas. (They look better served with small size corn tortillas)

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

18 small corn tortillas for tacos.

1 cup of cooking oil, I use rapeseed oil or olive oil.

Enfrijoladas Filling Ingredients:

1 leek (chopped finely).

1 carrot (diced).

1 small swede (diced).

1 small aubergine (diced).

400 grams chestnut mushrooms ( finely diced).

4 black garlic cloves, (you may use normal garlic just cook it at the same time as the leeks).

*I recommend to use black garlic for a deeper and unique flavour.

1-2 small rosemary sprigs.

2 tsp ground guajillo.

1 tbsp olive oil.

1 tbsp of margarine or vegan butter.

1 cup of vegetable stock.

Black Bean Ancho Sauce Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil.

1 tsp of margarine or vegan butter.

1 leek chopped roughly.

1/2 red onion roughly chopped .

1 fat garlic clove (minced).

200 grams of chestnut mushrooms.

1 ancho chili, (whole and without the stem).

1 tin of organic cooked black beans.

1 bay leaf.

1 cups of vegetable stock.

Kosher salt and black pepper to season.

Garnish:

1 cup of creme fraiche, (mixed with a bit of water and a pinch of salt to make it more runny consistency).

250 grams of feta cheese.

Handful of rosemary and dried marigold petals to decorate.

Method.

The first thing is to get your filling ready, so heat up the oil and vegan butter in a large frying pan, once is hot enough add your leeks and fry slowly on a low heat until they turn brown; I then add the carrots and swede and cook them half of the way, you may then add your aubergine, mushrooms and black garlic mushed into a paste, stir continuously and season with the ground guajillo, salt and pepper, stir your mixture for a bit and then add the rosemary chopped finely and the vegetable stock, cover with a lid and let the hard vegetables cook all the way and the stock to be absorbed. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary set aside.

To make the sauce start by frying the leeks, red onion, garlic and mushrooms, once your vegetables get a bit of colour add your whole ancho chilli (without the stem), stir and fry briefly; I then add the black beans , bay leaf and vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and let it simmer for about 25 min.

Remove your sauce from the heat and pour it into a blender, blend super smooth , check seasoning and add a bit more salt if necessary, return the mixture into to the sauce pan and reheat it before assembling your enfrijoladas, yo may add a bit more stock if your sauce thickens up too much.

To assembly your dish start by heating up 1/3 of the oil on a frying pan , get your tortillas ready on the side, reheat your filling and sauce.

Note: The remaining oil is to add from time to time when frying the tortillas.

Then lightly fry tortilla by tortilla, add a generous amount of filling inside each taquito , and place them carefully over a serving dish, arrange them nicely , once you fill up your platter, get the warm sauce and pour it on top, drizzle with the creme fraiche, add the feta cheese crumbled all over , and garnish with fresh rosemary and dried marigold petals, a last pinch of maldon salt sprinkled on top and serve them while they are still warm.

Enjoy the holidays!