Shrimp Enchiladas in a Cream Sauce

Creamy, cheesy, gooey, and delicious is the only way to describe these Shrimp Enchiladas. Really, really yummy. I often order these at restaurants and wanted to challenge myself to make them at home. Making enchiladas is always a little work, but this was so very worth it.

Servings: 6 enchiladas

Time:  Prep: 20 minutes; Cooking:  40 minutes

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, measuring cups & spoons, a skillet, tongs, sauce pot, whisk, food prep gloves, paper towel covered plate, 8 x 11.5 glass baking dish

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds extra-large, cleaned shrimp (26-30 count)
• 1 large bell pepper (1 cup chopped)
• 8 ounces tomatoes
• 1 jalapeño
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon culantro or cilantro
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• Olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 ¼ cups sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack (or Pepper Jack) cheese
• Cooking spray
• 6-6 inch corn tortillas
• Salt
• Chopped tomatoes and green onions for garnish

Shrimp Enchiladas in a Cream Sauce

1. Cut the shrimp into bite sized pieces and liberally salt them. Seed and dice the bell pepper and the jalapeño. Remember to wear gloves when handling the hot pepper. Roll up the culantro and slice it into slivers. Crush the garlic. Slice and seed the tomatoes.  Set everything aside.
2. In the skillet, heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan on medium. Add the peppers, garlic, and tomatoes. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add in the shrimp. Sprinkle on the cumin and culantro. Cook until the shrimp is just pink, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. While the shrimp is cooling, heat the butter in the sauce pot over medium heat until it is completely melted.  Add the flour and chili powder and whisk constantly until there are no lumps and the flour is a toasted golden color.  This should take about 3-4 minutes. (This is called a roux.)
4. Slowly add the broth.  Whisk often, scrapping the sides and bottom of the pan. When the sauce is completely mixed together stir in the sour cream. Remove the sauce pan from the heat. Taste and adjust the salt.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 350°. Spray the baking dish with cooking spray.
6. Spread about 2 tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of the glass pan.
7. Place the tortillas on the plate and cover with a damp paper towel.  Heat these in the microwave for 30 seconds.
8. Put about 2 tablespoons of the shrimp mixture and about 1-2 tablespoons of cheese into each tortilla and roll up. Place rolled tortillas, seam side down, into the glass pan. If you have extra shrimp save them and  spoon over the  enchiladas before serving.
9. Pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the enchiladas and cook for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. If you want, you can turn on the broiler on for 1-2 minutes to brown the cheese.  Just make sure to watch the dish closely so nothing burns.
11. Serve warm topped with chopped tomatoes and green onions. I served the enchiladas with Spanish rice.

Cheesy Goodness