Squash and Mole Enchiladas
As promised, I am sharing a recipe that uses mole sauce! While Mole is often served as a sauce for chicken, I wanted to try something different. It seemed like a good consistency for enchiladas, so I started there. Then Derek had the brilliant idea to put squash in them and I decided to scrap the chicken altogether and go vegetarian. 🙂
I love making warm and hearty dishes now that the cooler weather of fall has arrived. They tend to all be meaty dishes, though, so I am excited to have a vegetarian option to add to the rotation!
Preheat the oven to 300°. Now lay out the tortillas on a large cookie sheet (it’s ok if they overlap) and coat each one in cooking spray. Cook in the oven for about four minutes. This is just to soften them so they don’t split when rolled. I chose corn tortillas for these enchiladas because flour gets too soggy. We checked out our local Cash & Carry for the first time last weekend and the tortillas variety there was insane! There were teensy ones and ones over a foot in diameter! Maybe I’ll use one of those varieties next time. Take the tortillas out of the oven and turn it up up to 400°.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and reduce the heat to medium, add one teaspoon of the salt and the butternut squash. Cook for about ten minutes or until the squash is tender. Isn’t butternut squash just wonderful? It’s slightly sweet and soft but still holds its shape which makes it a great choice for recipes like this!
Strain the squash once it’s done.
While the squash is boiling, add the olive oil to a pan over medium. Next add the onion and the remaining salt.
Cook for about ten minutes or until the onions start to brown and are soft.
Now add the cooked squash and cook it all together for about a minute.
Finally add the black beans and half a cup of the mole to that and mix it all together.
Now it’s time to assemble the enchiladas!
You’ll start by pouring half of the remaining mole sauce into the bottom of a nine by thirteen inch pan.
Lay a tortilla in the sauce and put in some of the filling mixture. Roll it up and place the seam side down.
Continue that with the rest of the tortillas and filling. Now pour the rest of the mole over the top and cook in the oven for fifteen minutes.
Once out of the oven, let the enchiladas sit for about ten minutes. If you serve them up straight out of the oven, it’ll all fall apart.
Top with the cheese and serve. We had a bunch of feta cheese so that’s what I used, but you can also use soft Cotija which is a Mexican cheese with a similar flavor. They both have a salty tang that is a nice counterbalance to the sweetness of the squash and mole sauce.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 12 6" corn tortillas
- 4 cups Butternut squash 1/2"-inch cubes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, sliced into half moons
- 2 1/2 cups mole sauce
- 1 can black beans, strained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup soft Cotija or feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°.
- Lay tortillas on a large cookie sheet and coat each one in cooking spray. Cook in the oven for about 4 minutes.
- Take the tortillas out of the oven and turn it up to 400°.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and reduce heat to medium-high. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and the butternut squash. Cook for about ten minutes or until the squash is tender. Strain the squash.
- While the squash is boiling, add the olive oil to a pan over medium. Add the onion and remaining salt and cook for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown and are soft. Add cooked squash and cook together for about 1 minute.
- Add the black beans and 1/2 cup mole sauce mix together.
- Pour half of the remaining mole sauce into the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.
- Lay a tortilla in the sauce and put in some of the filling. Roll it up and place the seam side down. Continue with the rest of the tortillas and filling.
- Pour the rest of the mole sauce over the top and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Let the enchiladas sit for about 10 minutes.
- Top with cheese and serve.