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Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Pie

SERVES: 6 PREP: 25 minutes TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Pie

SERVES: 6 PREP: 25 minutes TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

Inspired by the 'Modern Family' star's favorite childhood dish, this pot pie uses corn tortillas as the crust!

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, star of Modern Family, has a new cookbook out: Food Between Friends, co-authored with Julie Tanous. He took over the Cravings kitchen to make his green chile chicken enchiladas with Pepper recently, and below is an excerpt from the book with a story about the inspiration behind the dish and how it came together.

Green chile chicken enchiladas are far and away the defining dish of my childhood. My mom would make hers as a casserole, serving it cut into big squares. Rolling up the stuffed tortillas individually was just too much work for her and it was easier to layer all the ingredients in a pan, place the pan in the oven to bake, and walk away. If there is ever a green chile chicken enchilada dish on a restaurant menu, you can bet your bottom dollar I am going to order it.

On our last day during a vacation in San Francisco, my husband, Justin, and I discovered a place that made green chile and chicken pot pies—and it was closed! I couldn’t stop thinking about it, though. I hadn’t even tasted this pie, and it was controlling my life. When I returned home, I decided to concoct my own version. This was during my “pie crust is the devil” phase, so the end result was a bit of a disaster. It took me a few years before I thought to abandon the traditional pie crust and use corn tortillas to make the “crust.” After all, the tortillas are my favorite part of an enchilada. The filling here, made with a roux and packed with peas, carrots, and onion, keeps this dish firmly in the pot pie category, while the green chile sauce and corn tortilla crust allow it to live its life as an enchilada, too. No restrictive labels here! Celebrate diversity and individuality! Do your thing, Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Pie!

Reprinted from FOOD BETWEEN FRIENDS by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Tanous. Copyright © 2021 by Julie & Jesse Cook, LLC. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Eva Kolenko.

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INGREDIENTS DIRECTIONS

For the enchilada pie:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
1 medium carrot, cut into ⅓-inch dice
2 teaspoons dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ⅓ cups chicken broth
¼ cup whole milk
½ cup frozen peas
1 (4-ounce) can diced Hatch green chiles
1 cup diced cooked chicken (from 1 large breast or a couple of thighs)
2 cups shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup hatch green chile sauce (recipe follows), plus more for serving
+ sour cream, for serving

For the hatch green chile sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 (4-ounce) cans diced Hatch green chiles

Make the hatch green chile sauce:

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion and jalapeño and sauté until soft and translucent but not browned, 4–5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, 1–2 minutes. Add the broth and green chiles and stir to scrape up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan.
Carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor or high-speed blender and purée until completely smooth. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container. (Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 3 months. I like to freeze small batches in ice cube trays or zippered plastic bags.)

Make the enchiladas:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or braiser over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, oregano, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until the onion is translucent and the carrots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir until the vegetables are well coated and the flour is toasted, 2–3 minutes. Slowly pour in the broth, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Whisk in the milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes, whisking frequently, until thickened.
Stir in the frozen peas, green chiles, and chicken. Cook until warmed through, 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of the cheese until melted. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm while you prepare the crust.
Preheat the broiler.
Cut six of the tortillas in half. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until nearly smoking. Add the whole and halved tortillas, a few at a time, and cook until they’re starting to bubble and crisp but are still pliable, 5–10 seconds on each side. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain and cool.
Place a whole fried tortilla in the center of a 9-inch pie pan. Arrange six tortilla halves, curved side up, around the sides of the dish, slightly overlapping each other and the center tortilla. Sprinkle ½ cup of the shredded cheese over the tortilla crust. Broil for 1–2 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and starting to brown.
Arrange the remaining halved tortillas, curved side up, around the edge of the pie dish, slightly overlapping the lower ring of tortillas. Spread the filling over the cheesy tortilla crust, then fold the outer ring of tortillas toward the center and place the remaining whole tortilla in the center, encasing the filling. Evenly spread the 1 cup hatch green chile sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup shredded cheese on top. Broil until the cheese on top is browned and bubbling, 2–3 minutes.
Let the enchilada pie stand for 10 minutes, then slice and serve with sour cream and more green chile sauce alongside.