Pork Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

 

This was one of my do-ahead freezer meals when family was visiting.  Then we didn't eat at home except for one dinner of leftover takeout.  Does not negate the fact that you can prep this, freeze it, and thaw to bake at a later date.

I didn't have quite enough tomatillo salsa left to pull this off and canned a triple batch while I was at it.  That was a good way to multitask my time while the pork was slow cooking.  Once everything was done and the ingredients were laid out, this took less than five minutes to assemble.  There was far more meat on the bone than I needed, so the rest is now in the freezer, along with the one jar of salsa that didn't seal and the rest of the pack of tortillas.  I can easily make this again.

*1 lb pork butt or stew meat
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 C tomatillo salsa or salsa verde
8 corn tortillas
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Place the meat in a saucepan or soup pot with water to come up at least halfway.  Add salt and pepper.  If desired, add other broth-making flavorings like onion, celery, and spices.  Bring to a low boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer until meat falls apart, about 2-3 hours.  Drain.  Once cool enough to handle, shred with a fork and discard any fat or bones.  You can do this the day before, or even weeks before and freeze it.

2.  Pour 1 C of the salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole.  Ignore my 8x8; it was too small, but I didn't want to get another pan dirty.  Soften tortillas by microwaving for 20 seconds.

3.  To assemble, spoon a strip of meat at the center of each tortilla.  Roll and place, seam-side down, in casserole.  Once all are in the pan, cover with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle evenly with the cheese, then cover with foil.  At this point, you have your do-ahead.  You can refrigerate to bake later in the day, or freeze for up to a month.

4.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Bake, covered, until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.  Remove foil and allow cheese to toast, about another 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Difficulty rating  π