earliest mole sauce recipe

Spicing Up That Leftover Turkey

In Holiday & Seasonal, Recipes by Mark MaskerLeave a Comment

Here’s a recipe for classic Mole Poblano, which features guajillo and pasilla chiles. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this is a fantastic sauce for turkey.

Classic Mole Poblano Sauce (Salsa de Mole Poblano)
This subtle blend of chocolate and chile is from Puebla, where it is known as the “National Dish of Mexico” when it is served over turkey.  This sauce adds life to any kind of poultry, from roasted game hens to a simple grilled chicken breast. It is also excellent as a sauce over chicken enchiladas.

Mole sauce, Oaxaca. Photo by Dave DeWitt

4 dried pasilla chiles, seeds and stems removed
4 dried red guajillo or New Mexican chiles, seeds and stems removed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 corn tortilla, torn into pieces
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 ounce bitter chocolate (or more to taste)

Combine the chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of the sesame
seeds, almonds, tortilla, raisins, cloves, cinnamon, and coriander.
Puree small amounts of this mixture in a blender until smooth.
Melt the shortening in a skillet and saute the puree for 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. Add the chicken broth and chocolate and cook over a
very low heat for 45 minutes. The sauce should be very thick. The
remaining sesame seeds are used as a garnish, sprinkled over the
finished dish.

Makes 2 cups
Heat Scale: 3

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Managing Editor | Mark is a freelance journalist based out of Los Angeles. He’s our Do-It-Yourself specialist, and happily agrees to try pretty much every twisted project we come up with.

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