The absolute nadir of last year’s ill-conceived Five Days of Squash was my squash enchiladas. Coated in too little sauce and packed with tough greens (and their even tougher stems) that had no possibility of getting tender, the resulting squash enchiladas were bad enough to turn me off to the concept for at least a year.

The problem with that first attempt was that I was more focused on cleaning out the crisper drawer than on what might actually taste good. Determined not to make that mistake again, for this year’s version I left out the hearty winter greens and instead added black beans, onions, cumin, cayenne pepper, and good Mexican melting cheese. The only concession I made to refrigerator-emptying was using leftover salsa verde from last week’s tongue tacos (warning: pictures of tongue) as the sauce.

If you are looking for a way to use some late-season winter squash you could do much worse than these enchiladas – I might even consider buying a squash just to make them.

Squash Enchiladas

• 1 small kuri squash, halved and seeded
• ½ medium onion, diced small
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz chihuahua, monterey jack, or other good melting cheese, shredded
• 10-12 corn tortillas
• Salsa Verde (See recipe at bottom of this post)
• 1 green onion, sliced thin

Heat oven to 400ºF. Rub exposed flesh of squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast on a sheet pan, cut side down, until flesh is tender and skin is spotted-brown, about 45 minutes.

While squash is roasting, cook the onions with olive oil in a large skillet over medium until edges begin to brown. Stir in spices and salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add black beans and keep stirring, cooking until the mixture is heated through. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl.

Use a spoon to scrape squash flesh off skin into the bowl with the beans and onions. Add most of the cheese, reserving some to top the dish. (Cilantro would be great here too, but I didn’t have any on hand.) Toss.

Spread a layer of salsa verde to cover the bottom of an 8″ square baking dish.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave or on the stovetop to make them pliable. Fill each tortilla with about a half cup of the squash-bean mixture, then roll and place seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat until the dish is full. Top with salsa verde to cover. Sprinkle on reserved cheese. Bake 30-35 minutes, until cheese starts to brown.

When the enchiladas are done baking, top with sliced green onions. Serve with sour cream and additional salsa verde.

5 comments | Black Beans, Enchiladas, Kuri, Mexican, Salsa Verde, Squash, Winter Squash

This entry was posted by Tom on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Recipes. You can subscribe to responses to this entry via RSS.