Enchiladas for dinner tonight!

And they. were. awesome.

But guess what’s inside of them? Just guess!

Never mind, you won’t be able to guess. In fact, you won’t even believe me when I tell you.

OK fine, I’ll tell you.

In a minute.

First, let’s start with these little buggers. They played a big part of what made tonight’s meal so good.

While I’ve made my own enchilada sauce before, I did it a bit differently this time.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

2 cups of water
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
4 – 5 Chipotle chiles, pureed (in my mini prep)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp agave nectar (but any sweetener would do)
A dash of salt, cumin, paprika and chili powder

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring every 2 – 3 minutes.

While your sauce is simmering, get working on your enchilada filling. Your pumpkin enchilada filling.

Pumpkin Enchiladas!

(Was that not as exciting as you expected it to be? I probably built up too much suspense.)

Surprised or not, Pumpkin Enchiladas is right! I’m not the first person on the planet to make pumpkin enchiladas, so maybe you’ve heard of these before, but they shocked the glass slippers off of me. I was even more shocked when I dug into them tonight.

Pumpkin Enchilada Filling

1 – 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 – 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 can of pumpkin puree (or bake your own)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

Pre-heat oven to 375. Saute onions and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in pumpkin, black beans and heat through. Set aside.

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce.

I filled five small flour tortillas with pumpkin mixture and then topped with pepper jack cheese.

Rolled, topped with more enchilada sauce and the last of the cheese.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so, they’re done when your sauce is bubbling.

I stumbled upon this idea while looking for something different to do with refried beans. I had my doubts, but I decided to put my faith in the good people of the world wide web.

Trust the Internet. The Internet is smart.

Served with Basmati rice. When I tested the sauce on its own, it was really good, but also extremely spicy. Rice was made in anticipation of needing something to dampen the heat.

With rice, Greek yogurt and guac (again! I’m addicted), the sauce was the perfect temperature.

The filling was so good and savory, it was hard to believe it was pumpkin. The enchilada sauce turned out better than any pre-made sauce I’ve ever used.

Hold on to your refried frijoles, people! Believe it! There’s a new enchilada filling in town.

Linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade