Roasted tomatoes and sweet red peppers give this sauce its body and a mild, rich flavour. It's a Mexican-inspired variation on red enchilada sauce rather than a traditional chile-based version because I did not have all the ingredients available in belgium. If the tomatoes release a lot of juice, simmer the blended sauce a little longer before assembling.
Main DishesTempeh and Bean Enchiladas with Roasted Pepper Sauce
Carrots and tempeh become a coarse mince in the blender, then cook with kidney beans and sweetcorn. A roasted tomato and red pepper sauce keeps the tortillas soft in the oven, with mozzarella melted over the top.
Ingredients
Tempeh, Beans and Corn Filling
Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Sauce
For Assembly
Preparation Steps
Roast the vegetables for the sauce
Heat the oven to 220°C. Halve the tomatoes, deseed and cut the red bell peppers into strips, and quarter the onion. Spread them on a baking tray with the garlic, olive oil and salt; roast for about 25 minutes, until the pepper edges char lightly and the tomatoes rendered most of its water.
Pulse the tempeh and carrots
Break the tempeh into chunks and cut the carrots into small pieces. Pulse them together in short bursts, working in batches if needed, until they resemble a coarse mince. Stop before they turn into a paste. You can also do it with a knife if you're feeling motivated, which I wasn't...
Cook the tempeh filling
While the vegetables roast, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Soften the chopped onion, add the garlic, then cook the carrot-tempeh mixture until the carrot softens. Stir in the tomato paste, smoked paprika, cumin, salt and black pepper.
Blend and reduce the red sauce
Transfer the roasted vegetables and tray juices to a blender. Add the cumin and oregano, then blend until smooth.
Finish with kidney beans and corn
Add the drained kidney beans, drained corn and water to the pan. Crush some of the beans with a spatula or fork to bind the filling and simmer until thick to fill easily the tortillas (without being too watery). Once the water has evaporated, add about 200ml of the sauce to the pan and mix everything together.
Fill the tortillas and lower the oven
Reduce the oven to 190°C. Warm the whole wheat and corn tortillas briefly under a damp towel or in a dry pan so they bend without cracking (you don't have to if you just made them yourself). Spread a thin layer of red sauce in a large baking dish, fill each tortilla with the bean-tempeh mixture, roll and arrange seam-side down.
Bake with sauce and mozzarella
Add the remaining roasted pepper sauce over the rolled tortillas, making sure their edges are covered, then scatter the mozzarella on top. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the cheese melts.
Recipe insights
A roasted tomato and pepper sauce
Keeping tempeh and carrots crumbly
Tempeh tends to become sticky if the blender runs continuously. Brief pulses produce small uneven pieces, which brown more readily in the pan. The mashed kidney beans then hold the corn and tempeh together without making the filling wet so no need to turn the tempeh into a sauce.
Homemade tortillas and making ahead
For this recipe, you can use store-bought tortillas like I did, but I linked also a recipe for homemade tortilla wrap and I got to say, when it's homemade it's always better.
You can make the sauce and filling ahead, refrigerate them separately for up to three days, then warm the tortillas before rolling. Once baked, the tortillas soften further in the sauce.
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