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STUFFED, ROASTED POBLANO CHILIS W/ CHEESY BUTTERNUT SQUASH, MUSHROOMS, QUINOA & PEPITA CREMA

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Mexico has proven a fickle lover. After I last left, Mexico and I had an incredibly explosive row in which I came back poisoned by its tainted water as punishment for having left. Now that I’m feeling a bit better and have to return to Mexico for another week, I intend to win my way back into spurned Mexico’s heart through food, the only way I know how. One of Mexico’s most alluring powers is its incredible cuisine. I thought I’d seduce it with its own magic. It’s an abusive and passionate tryst, as these things go.

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One of my favorite restaurants in Mexico City, El Cardinal, has a version of this dish on their menu that I keep ordering. It’s a wonderful roasted poblano pepper, filled with cheese and a delicious crema. I wanted to make a version of it, but more hearty and less cheesy. After looking around, I found the perfect recipe over at the Bojon Gourmet. I adapted it slightly by adding mushrooms and changing up the cheese, but seriously, this woman doesn’t mess around. The pepita crema is so good. The recipe is a little component-heavy, but not hard.  You can make most of it the day before so that the day you want so serve it all you have to do is put it together and roast. The nuttiness of the quinoa combines with the pumpkin seeds and the squash perfectly. The heat is offset by the crema while the cheese acts as a binding agent. Each component is its own and works well together. A perfect balance.

Ever since I started my traveling to Mexico for work balance like this has been so important. After coming home I needed a few days of rest. My focus became watching the shadows creep slowly across the walls and observing the light at different angles. I took my work calls on mute and listened rather than speaking. I noticed how the tree outside my window has a hint of nascent buds and how the three o’clock light is strong. I felt the fabric of my blanket against my face. When I slow down like this it makes it a little hard for me to embrace the city and life as I had it before. And yet, as I slowed down, the people around me slowed around too. You are the master of the way the world reacts to you. When you come back from an intense trip it feels for a while that coming home is like you’re living someone else’s life. I felt like an impostor. Everything from my favorite Pandora radio station to my gym classes felt like something I had set up for myself in another time and I was just trying it on for size. Lucky for me, I liked it all again. I started to think, “at least the woman who set this stuff up was cool.” Now I remember, “oh yes, that woman was me…IS me.” Sometimes when you change the world changes around you and sometimes your priorities shift to tell you what you need. But either way, you slowly come back to yourself. And that’s a wonderful thing. And so is the idea that my kitchen is still mine and a beautiful convex lens through which I view the world.

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As an aside, I know that I dropped the story line about my amazing neighbor/cook who moved out because I’ve been hoping to tell you about it with a post. I certainly will when I have the time to recreate the wonderful meal she created for me using the butchering skills she taught me and when I start doing some catering with her! But I have a new neighbor story. A new woman has moved in and she (I think she’s a she) has two boxes of Calphalon kitchenware waiting for her in the hallway. They’ve been there for DAYS! I told my husband that I’m going to steal them if she doesn’t claim them in 36 hours. As you can see from the pictures here, I need a new saute pan.  36 hours went by and the pans still sit there. I’m not a thief, but I thought enough about hauling these boxes up a bunch of flights of stairs that it finally threw me over the edge. If this woman can move in and care so little about her boxes of expensive kitchenware, I certainly could get a new pan. Tomorrow it should be here! I cannot wait.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

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STUFFED, ROASTED POBLANO CHILIS W/ CHEESY BUTTERNUT SQUASH, MUSHROOMS, QUINOA & PEPITA CREMA

Adapted from The Bojon Gourmet Check out her website. It’s beautiful, down to earth and her cooking is off the hook!

Ingredients:

For the quinoa:

  • 1/2 cup quinoa (white or multi), soaked 1 hour in cool water, rinsed well, and drained
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the peppers and stuffing:

  • 6 medium-sized, meaty poblano chiles (or other sweet or mildly spicy peppers, such as bell or Anaheim/Hatch)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved, and diced
  • 1 cup mushrooms (mixed or portobello)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup (4 ounces / 115 grams) crumbled fresh goat cheese
  • 1 cup (3 ounces / 85 grams) grated dry jack cheese (or other tasty melting cheese such as sharp cheddar)
  • cilantro leaves, extra goat cheese and pepitas, lime wedges, and avocado slices for garnish (optional)

For the pepita crema:

  • 1 cup pepitas, raw or lightly toasted, soaked 4-12 hours in cool water and drained
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • juice of 1-2 limes
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 1/4 cups water

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Directions:

For the quinoa:

In a medium saucepan, combine the soaked and drained quinoa, water, and salt. Bring to a boil, then immediately decrease the heat to very low, cover, and let steam until all the water is absorbed, 10-15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. The quinoa should be cooked through but still a little bit firm. If it is too crunchy, sprinkle in a few more tablespoons of water and continue cooking.

Prepare the peppers:

Preheat the broiler. Place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and broil on each side until the skin is blackened and blistered in places, a few minutes per side. Ideally, the pepper is softened, but firm enough to hold its shape. The roasting process will take about 10 minutes in total.
Remove the peppers from the broiler and let them cool completely. When cool, gently peel away as much skin as will come off easily. Cut a slit down the center of each pepper, leaving them connected at the top and bottom. Working carefully in order to keep the pepper in one piece, remove the seeds and ribs; I found my fingers worked best, but do wash your hands and under your nails thoroughly with soap afterwards to remove the oils which can burn your skin (or wear gloves as you work).

For the filling:

Heat the oil in a wide skillet over a medium flame until it shimmers. Add the onions and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and beginning to color. Add the squash and water, cover, and simmer until the squash is tender but still holding its shape, about 10 minutes.
Alternatively, preheat oven to 350 and bake squash for 30-40 minutes until tender. Saute an onion separately for about 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.
Let the squash/onion/mushroom mixture cool slightly, then place it in a large bowl with the quinoa. Add the cheeses and fold gently to combine.

Stuff and bake the peppers:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Carefully stuff the filling into the peppers, filling them all the way and pressing them back into shape if need be. Place the peppers in a baking dish and bake until heated through, 20 minutes.

Make the pepita crema:

Toast the cumin seeds in a small, dry skillet over a medium flame, shaking frequently, until they smell nutty, 1-2 minutes. In the bowl of a blender, combine the soaked and drained pepitas, toasted cumin seeds, juice of 1 lime, salt, garlic, and half of the water. Blend to a paste, slowly adding the rest of the water to make a thick sauce. Blend on high until very smooth, 3-5 minutes. Taste, adding more salt or lime if you feel it needs it. The crema will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Serve the peppers:

Place each pepper on a plate in a puddle of crema. Drizzle a little extra crema over the peppers and garnish with goat cheese, cilantro, and pepitas if you like, adding avocado slices and lime wedges to the plates. Extra peppers can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve for up to a few days.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jovina Coughlin

    Ok Amanda! You have my attention with this recipe. Love stuffed poblano peppers.The stuffing ingredients you used look delicious. Definitely on the recipe to try soon list. Especially now that the peppers will be in season here soon.
    Rest up, enjoy your days at home and the upcoming weekend.

    • Amanda

      Thank you so much, Jovina. It’s so great to hear from you. I’m feeling much better and happy to be back in the kitchen. This recipe is GOOD! You will love this. And these peppers actually weren’t hot at all. I almost wish I had left more seeds in it. I hope you do make this. You will love it. Have a wonderful weekend!

  2. sabine

    Mexico and you seem to have quite a passionate relationship – I love reading about it ! As of the Bojon Gourmet – I totally share your love for her cooking, Amanda! Get well!!

  3. tinywhitecottage

    Sounds like the temptation is too strong to resist a new skillet! Lovely post Amanda. I love this recipe and so glad you researched and put it together for us. 🙂 I’m especially happy to know you are spending time and Mexico and acquainting yourself with new recipes. I really hope you keep reproducing and sharing. I’m loving quinoa anything right now so this gives me something new to do with it. I’ll be making this.

    • Amanda

      So nice to hear from you as always, Seana. This is a really good recipe. I love love the crema. So nutty and it works with the other squash. As for Mexico, we’re bffs now 🙂 Enjoy your weekend! xo

  5. Darya

    Hello Amanda! I hope you are feeling better now, and will have a great time on your last trip (for now) to Mexico. This dish looks delicious, though a bit frustrating for me, as I adore peppers, but none of those exist here in France… except regular bell peppers. I love the idea of the pepita crema, I can imagine it with all sorts of other dishes!

    • Amanda

      Hi Darya! I think you’d love the pepita crema. I wish I could send you a million kinds of chili pepper! You would really like this dish. I still love that you made tinga de pollo tacos. Honestly if you char a red pepper and fill it with the filling, the taste would also be so good 🙂

    • Amanda

      Thank you so much. I’m glad to be back in the kitchen spending time doing what i love. The pumpkin seed crema is so good. You can put it in everything. Have a great weekend.

    • Amanda

      Thanks. Totally. I keep thinking of you because with all of the traveling i now have a pasta maker in my office 😉 post to come about that…xo

  8. thejameskitchen

    Wonderful, Amanda, simply wonderful. Chiles rellenos are a secret passion of mine and I almost can taste the great combination of poblanos, squash & mushrooms you have chosen. Hope you can placate Montezuma on your next trip and bring back more lovely recipes! Happy Easter. Nicole

    • Amanda

      Thank you, Nicole. I had no idea you liked chiles rellenos. These are a healthy version. Total Montezuma. I’m nervous to go through that again. I’ll be really careful this time. Happy Easter to you! ! Xo

  9. Karinna

    The first picture of those four peppers is so beautiful, I’d hang it on my wall. Cheesy squash… That I’ve not tried before. The pepita crema sounds so good. Hope you’re rested up and feeling strong again – it sounds like you are. Enjoy the on-going tussle with the city!

    • Amanda

      Ha! Thank you. I actually make butternut squash a lot of nights and put goat cheese in it. Stuck a good combo. Feeling good and ready to fight with Mexico again. I need to wean myself of this case. It’s so cool but exhausting.

  10. Maria Dernikos

    This is a lovely recipe, it appeals even more as it can be prepared the day before. I just need to source the ingredients. Shall keep it in mind when I see wonderful peppers. I hope you are feeling better. Glad to hear someone equally exciting has moved in!!!

    • Amanda

      It was you who made me realize that i never finished the story. I’m going to email my neighbor and tell her I’ve been commuting to Mexico because she said right about now she’d like my help catering. I’ll reach out and see if she needs an assistant.

  11. Mad Dog

    That looks so good – I’m sure it would cure my hangover!
    I’m waiting with bated breath with regard to your ex neighbour story… The boxes of pans outside makes me wonder – if new neighbour doesn’t have time to collect her pans she probably doesn’t have time to cook. I do hope that’s not the case, it’s a shame to have nice pans and not use them. I hope you enjoy yours and I hope Montezuma has given you immunity for your next trip 😉

    • Amanda

      Thank you, MD. I hope so too. I agree with you about this new neighbor! We’ll have to see. I’ll keep my nose open. A hangover is evidence of a good night! Glad you’re having some fun. So great to see you. Stay well!

  12. Mary Frances

    I absolutely love your photos. The color scheme of green with pops of orange is so eye catching. It looks so delicious too! I’ll have to try it out sometime soon!

  13. Chaya

    Amanda, you’re such a talented writer and cook. You seem to be drawing lots of inspiration from the streets of Mexico. I’d love to go! Traveling always invigorates my cooking and infuses me with more passion. Hope you’re feeling better!

  14. Dana Fashina

    You’re such an amazing writer Amanda, the pictures and images you paint are so real it’s we’re there with you.
    Another beautiful creation love 🙂
    xx

  17. platedujour

    Amanda as much as I love the recipe, I have to tell you that these avocados look simply fabulous!! I’ve seen avocados like these ones only in Australia, and I miss them terribly. The are perfect inside, and I can only imagine the way they taste. Oh my, it brings my memories back…I envy you these travels to Mexico and all these flavors and emotions you experience. I’m sure it keeps changing you doesn’t it? It happened to me after a few trips to Australia. I simply couldn’t go back…mentally anyway. I hope you’re having a lovely weekend xx

    • Amanda

      Thank you do much for your comment. The avocados are amazing. They’re like the perfect food. I totally agree with you. I’m different every time i come and go. It’s hard to be so adaptable sometimes. Like having 2 homes. Have a great week! I just landed again in Mexico!

  19. Karen

    What a delicious sounding dish. I just used a poblano and pumpkin seeds this past week…if I have seen your recipe earlier, I would have tried this. I’ll have to make it soon.

  20. coconutcraze

    Stuffed roasted poblano chillies have stolen my heart! Your presentation is excellent! The way you narrate incidents makes me go through those experiences. Lovely, Amanda!

  22. Sofia

    You had poisoning, oh poor you! I know what you mean by needing a few days rest after tiring work journeys… Unfortunately sometimes there is no time for it.
    So you met your neighbour!?