Chicken Chilaquiles

4 cups fresh tomatoes or tomatillos
2 large cloves garlic
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
1/3 small onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 to 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 (6 or 7 ounce) bag tortilla chips
Sour cream (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make salsa by washing and halving tomatoes (remove husks from tomatillos). Cut jalapeno in half and remove seeds and stem. Place tomatoes (tomatillos), garlic, jalapeno, onion, salt and pepper in blender and blend until smooth. Place in saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 20 minutes. Add additional salt to taste, if desired. (NOTE: If not using a blender, peel tomatoes and chop all ingredients well before combining in saucepan. Start cooking on lower heat to prevent scorching; as juice forms turn the heat up to medium and continue as above.) If salsa is too thick, thin with a little chicken broth. Set half the salsa aside.

Mix half the salsa and half the cheese with the chicken.

Toss tortilla chips with remaining salsa. Layer the salsa and chips with the salsa and chicken mixture in a 9 x 13-inch pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes to melt cheese.

Serve with sour cream.

NOTES: Use approximately 1 1/2 – 2 pounds tomatoes or tomatillos (this is equivalent to about 14-15 medium tomatillos or 4-6 large tomatoes). The first 6 ingredients and the first step may be replaced with 24 ounce jar commercial salsa for speed and convenience, but the taste will be different.

Serves 6 to 8.