It’s All About the Sauce!

If y’all have been following me for any length of time, you know that I LOVE me some seafood recipes.  Pasta is my absolute most FAVORITE thing to eat…and I’m pretty sure I could eat it every day if I didn’t want to fit into my clothes anymore…but seafood is definitely my most favorite cuisine.  I try to cook at least one seafood dish a week whether it be shrimp, crab, or fish. If I’m really livin’ on the edge, I might even incorporate all three :)  I made this little number for my brother and his girlfriend a few weekends ago.  My brother went back for several servings.  That, my friends, says a lot.  He’s a little on the picky side, so I was thrilled when he went back for more!  Even though he loved the seafood part of the dish, he made sure to let me know that it was “all about the sauce”.  He’s asked me to recreate this several time, but next time, "make more sauce”!!!!!  Okay, okay.  I hear ya, bro.  Once you try it, you’ll see what he means!!!!

ROASTED SHRIMP ENCHILADAS WITH JALAPENO CREAM SAUCE

recipe via Damn Delicious

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided

kosher salt & black pepper, to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1- 1 & 1/2 cups matchstick carrots

1 bag of baby spinach

2 tbsp. chipotle pepper in adobo sauce {I just used the sauce, not the actual pepper}

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

flour tortillas

2 cups monterrey jack cheese

 

JALAPENO CREAM SAUCE

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cups sour cream

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

kosher salt & ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Before you abandon this recipe because the list of ingredients seems overwhelming, just keep reading so you can see how dang good this is.

See?!  It doesn’t look so bad now, does it?!?!  Sure…it’s gonna take a little prep, but trust me when I say it’s totally worth it!!!!

Here we go…

Add your shrimp to a large, gallon sized ziplock baggie.  Cover them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper {to taste},  and give ‘em a good shakin’ to evenly coat.  Remove from baggie and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  Cook at 400 for about 6-8 minutes or until the little shrimp are pink an firm.

You can dice them into little bite-sized pieces, but that was just an extra step I didn’t feel like taking, so I left ‘em just like this.  Before proceeding, reduce the oven temp to 375 and prep a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Moving on…

Heat the rest of the olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic and onion.  Cook for about 5ish minutes, or until onions are a little soft and transparent. 

Toss in the carrots, spinach, chipotle pepper, oregano, and cayenne pepper.  The original recipe called for one carrot, peeled and julienned.  Ummm…I had no desire to do that either, so I cheated and bought the matchstick carrots.  Since I was cooking for my picky brother, I wasn’t too sure if he’d like that addition, so I took it easy on the amount I used.  You could always use less…or more…depending on your preference!

Cook until the spinach is wilted. 

Now add the shrimp and toss well to combine.  We could totally stop right here and just start eating right out of the skillet, but everything tastes better with a tortilla, so I’ll keep on going. 

Remove from heat and set aside.  In a separate saucepan, melt the butter.  Then whisk in the flour until it’s lightly browned.

Now whisk in the broth and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the jalapenos and garlic powder and let it simmer until the sauce has a chance to thicken up.  Add your salt & pepper {to taste}, remove from heat, and stir in the cilantro.  Set aside.

 

Now create a mental image of what all that might look like and insert it here.  I forgot to snap a pic.

 

Let’s assemble the enchiladas, shall we?!  Sure.  The original recipe calls for corn tortillas, but I like things as fatty as possible, so I used flour instead.  Lay out your tortilla and spoon about a third of the shrimp mix down the center.  Sprinkle with cheese…as much, or little, as you wish.  Heck, by the time I assembled all of my enchiladas, they were stuffed to the brim with the shrimp mix and the cheese!  Roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the prepared baking dish.

Once all of the enchiladas are resting peacefully in the baking dish, top ‘em with half of the jalapeno sauce.  You’ll want to reserve the other half for serving once they’re warm & ready!  Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes…or until they’re hot & bubbly. 

Remove from the oven and serve with the reserved sauce and crunchy rice.  Okay…maybe not…but if you’re me, that’s what you’d do because you forgot the rice was set on high and you burned the junk out of it.  You’ll still eat it because you hate for it to go to waste and every good enchilada tastes just a little better with a crunch of rice ;)

I *might* have to agree with my brother when he said it was all about the sauce.  He *might* be onto something there.  At one point, he said he wanted to drink it, but I’m not sure if that was him or the *sauce high* talking ;)  This sauce would seriously be amazing on pretty much ANY enchilada.  With that said, I’m about to make a repeat batch of these shrimp enchiladas this weekend.  Just looking at this picture is making me wish I had a plate full of ‘em right now!