In the spirit of Fall and Thanksgiving, we have decided to gather two of our favorite Mexican recipes made with pumpkin for all to try. As Mexicans, food is a symbol of unity, family, and knowledge, as most recipes are passed down from generation to generation with no exact measurements nor instructions. That is why we have decided to share these recipes adapted from our favorite recipe book, Decolonize your Diet: Plant-based Mexican American Recipes for Heath and Healing (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015) by Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel. Seriously, this is the book to get if you are looking for plant-based recipes that are inspired in our Mexican ancestors. Although we have made some changes to adjust them to our diet, which is not plant-based, the recipes here are inspiring to reclaim the knowledge our ancestors left us with and they will surely impress everyone at the table, vegan or not.
Chipotle Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
3 cans of 15oz pumpkin purée
1 large white onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1-2 tbsp Chipotles en adobo (can be canned), minced
1 cinnamon stick
4-6 cups of chicken stock. Vegetarian/Vegan: use vegetable stock
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
Choose from these options to garnish:
Shredded chicken
Fried tortilla strips
Toasted pumpkin seeds (known as pepitas), toasted for about 3 minutes in dry pan.
Cilantro
Mexican crema, can choose vegan options for this.
Queso Fresco, can choose vegan options for this.
Avocado, sliced or cubed
Toasted chipotle strips
Preparation:
Sauté onions for 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, and 1 tbsp of chipotle (even if you are though, go easy on the chipotle, you can add more later) and cook for 1 minute. Add pumpkin, cinnamon stick, chicken stock, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove cinnamon stick from soup. With an immersion blender, purée soup until creamy. If soup is too thick, add more chicken stock little by little until you reach a nice consistency, then taste to adjust seasonings, adjusting levels of salt and spice. For a spicier soup, add more chipotle.
Serve in bowls and garnish with any options from our garnish ingredient list. Our favorite is to add shredded chicken to make this a complete meal, with queso and avocado, but this is your moment to get creative as tortilla strips or toasted pepitas also work great, giving the soup a crunchy texture!
Makes 6 servings
Pumpkin Mole Enmoladas
Ingredients:
1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
5 roasted garlic cloves
6 dried ancho chiles
3 whole cloves
5 whole allspice berries
¼ cup roasted peanuts
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 can 15oz organic pumpkin purée
3 cups chicken stock, use vegetable stock if vegetarian
1 small cone piloncillo, about 1oz
sea salt to taste
12-18 corn tortillas
1 cup of queso Oaxaca torn into strips for topping (skip if vegan option)
Filling:
2-3 cups of shredded chicken.
or
2-3 cups of queso Oaxaca torn into strips, for vegetarian option.
or
2-3 cups finely diced roasted pumpkin, for vegan option.
Choose from these options to garnish:
Melted Oaxaca cheese
Pickled red onions
Cilantro
Mexican crema and/or Queso Fresco
To Make Mole:
Toast onions and garlic on medium heat until charred and set aside. Toast ancho chiles for about 1 minute per side, taking care not to burn. Put chiles in a bowl and fully submerge in boiling water for 30 minutes. On same griddle, toast cloves and allspice berries for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Remove from heat.
Drain chiles, reserving liquid. Remove and discard stems and seeds. Put chiles on a blender with ½ cup of soaking liquid and add onions, garlic, cloves, allspice, peanuts, cinnamon, pumpkin, stock, piloncillo, and salt to a high-speed blender and purée until smooth. Cook puréed mixture on medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To make enmoladas:
Preheat oven to 350° F
Pour a generous ladle of mole into a baking dish. This will serve as the base on which rolled tortillas will go, so make sure to distribute it properly.
Heat 1 tortilla on griddle with ½-1 inch of oil, flipping after about 1 minute. Dip tortilla in mole sauce, using tongs not to burn yourself. Place in baking dish, add shredded chicken and roll. Repeat this process with each tortilla, until dish is full. Ladle mole on top of rolled enmoladas until fully covered, be generous. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
To serve, present in serving dish at center of table and allow for each to serve from there. Garnish with pickled red onions and sliced avocado. Another option is to add cheese to the dish before it goes in the oven so that it melts. You can always add queso fresco and/or crema. Again, this is your opportunity to be creative! Makes 6-8 servings.
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Please, share with us how these turned out or any other pumpkin recipes you can think of.
If you are looking for table tops and how to present your dishes, don't forget to check out our Tabletop collection and our Kitchen collection, where we have a wide variety of artisanal products to serve and present your dishes and will continue to add more!
