Smothered Burritos with Bombero Sauce

To a sauce pan, add arbol chilies and water, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let chilies steep for about 30 minutes. During this time, prepare the rest of the sauce ingredients.

After 30 minutes, remove chilies with a slotted spoon and place into a blender or food processor. Reserve the chile water.

Add remaining sauce ingredients into the blender or food processor, along with about 1 cup of the chili water, and 2 cups of fresh water and blend until smooth.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and use a spoon to mash the mixture through the strainer. This will filter any seeds or thicker stuff that you can discard. Taste and season with any additional salt. Yep, packs a little punch, but don’t worry, my wife and kids loved this sauce and everyone devoured the smothered burritos.

Add the bombero sauce to a sauce pot and bring to a simmer, cooking for about 10–15 minutes. Let cool and store in your refrigerator until you are ready to use. (I couldn’t wait. I was the dude sweating in the kitchen, repeatedly dunking tortilla chips into the sauce. It’s addicting.)

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Warm a large flour tortilla so it is pliable, then add shredded chicken and about 1/2 cup of the quesadilla cheese. Roll and fold the burrito, and place onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. The goal is to get a slightly crunchy outside of the burrito. Repeat with as many burritos as you would like to make.

During this time, warm up the bombero sauce on the stove, and bring to a low boil.

After 10 minutes, remove the burritos, and get ready to sauce them. I ladle sauce over the top of mine, top with the remaining cheese, and place back into the oven until the cheese is melted. I let the wife and kids ladle as much sauce as they want and add cheese as desired. After the cheese has melted, remove and drizzle Mexican crema over the top.

Dig in.