Roasted Calabaza Recipes

CALABACITAS

Steps:

• Give the tomatoes a good rinse and let them roast in a 400F oven for 20 minutes or until you need them. I usually de-stem the tomatoes knowing that any juices leftover in the roasting pan will be used.
• Finely chop a small onion and get it cooking in some oil over medium heat. Let it cook until it's starting to brown, approx. 7-10 minutes. Add three minced garlic cloves and cook for 30-60 seconds.
• Take a couple spoonfuls of the onion-garlic mixture from the pan and add it to the blender -- this will eventually be combined with the roasted tomatoes.
• Give the zucchinis a good rinse and cut them up into 1/4" sized pieces -- be sure to cut off the ends of the zucchinis and discard. Add the chopped zucchini to the onion-garlic mixture in the pan, along with 3/4 teaspoon salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano. Stir well and let it saute for a couple minutes as you put the tomato mixture together.
• Rinse the jalapeno and chop it up into quarters, discarding the stem. Add the roasted tomatoes to the blender along with 1/4 of the jalapeno. (There should also be a couple spoonfuls of the onion-garlic mixture in the blender.) Combine well and take a taste. Add additional slivers of the jalapeno until the heat tastes right to you. I used a larger jalapeno for this batch and only needed about half of it.
• Add the tomato mixture back to the saucepan and let the zucchini simmer in it for a couple more minutes or until the zucchini is tender but still a little firm -- this batch cooked for a total of 7-8 minutes. If using canned corn you can add it in now as it doesn't need much time to heat up. If using fresh corn kernels you can add them in when you add the zucchini. (I usually drain and rinse canned corn but this is optional.)
• Take a final taste for seasoning. I added another generous pinch of salt to this batch.
• Serve immediately with your choice of garnish. Cotija cheese and freshly chopped cilantro are good options.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge where they will keep for a few days.

CALABAZA SOUP: SOPA DE CALABAZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the calabaza. Season with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven until tender, about 1/2 hour.
• In a large stockpot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil and saute onions, green pepper, red pepper, and garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes or until caramelized. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 more minutes.
• Deglaze with white wine. Add chicken stock and heavy cream and the roasted calabaza. Add the thyme. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 20 minutes. Puree all the ingredients. Strain the soup and adjust the seasonings. Garnish with vanilla-flavored whipped cream, if desired.

ROASTED CALABAZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475°F.
• Remove the seeds and peel the calabaza, then cut into 3/4-inch-wide pieces
• Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.
• Spread onto baking pans in a single layer.
• Roast the calabaza for 20 minutes then turn each piece.
• Roast for another 20 to 30 minutes or until they are caramelized.
• Serve with lime wedges spritz onto squash.

ROASTED CHICKEN LEGS WITH CALABAZA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Cut the calabaza into wedges; clean out all seeds and pulp and cut away the peels. Put the wedges flat in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper on each side.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
• While squash bakes, combine lime juice, hot sauce, paprika, honey, salt, and pepper. Dry chicken legs and toss in sauce until evenly coated. Place chicken in a separate baking dish.
• When calabaza has baked for 15 minutes, lower oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) and place chicken alongside it.
• Bake until chicken is no longer pink in the centers and juices run clear and calabaza is soft, about 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone of a leg quarter should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Remove and plate.

BLACK BEANS WITH CALABAZA SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Remove seeds and strings from the core of the Calabaza
• Place Calabaza on middle rack without a pan, so it roasts fast and evenly for 20 minutes
• Poke Calabaza with a long-tined fork after 10 minutes (halfway) to check for doneness
• When the fork goes through with not too much resistance (usually after 20 minutes of roasting), remove Calabaza and let it cool off a little before peeling and dicing it.
• Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil when warm
• Add in onions and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes
• Add celery, peppers, and calabaza. Stir and saute for a couple of minutes
• Add the Black Beans
• Add a pinch of salt and half the fresh cilantro (reserve the other half for garnish)
• Cover with a lid and let simmer for 25 minutes
• Remove from the heat and transfer to a serving bowl

ROASTED AMBERCUP SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cut squash in half.
• Using a spoon, scoop out the innards to remove all of the seeds and stringy pieces. Reserve the seeds if you want to roast them for a fun snack.The "guts" are still edible, but can be texturally unpleasant. I will usually keep them to puree into soup or pet food. However, most people will discard them! Just make sure not to toss any seeds!
• Once you've cut in half and removed the innards from the squash, wrap in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.I do this by getting a piece of foil long enough to wrap around the entire squash. Place squash face down in the center of the foil. Then, wrap the edges of the foil around to cover the squash completely.I didn't do this, but would highly recommend cutting the squash into fourths, instead of just halves! This would decrease the rather long cooking time for something this size.
• Bake for about 2 hours depending on size. Make sure to flip halfway through so that the squash sides are face up.This is the trickiest part about roasting squash: the size of the squash can drastically increase the cook time. You'll know that they're done when the flesh is soft and you can poke it with a fork without any resistance. It will vaguely resemble the consistency of potatoes before you mash them. The best thing to do is to cook them for an hour and then check them every 20 minutes after that until they're cooked throughout.
• Let cool to the touch.You can also put the squash in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up this process. Just place it in a heat-safe bowl and place an oven mitt in between the bowl and any glass shelves. As the rapid change in temperature can crack and break.
• Remove skin and add squash to the food processor. It should peel off easily. If you like, you can get every bit of pumpkin out of it by scooping the remaining pumpkin out with a spoon.
• Purée until smooth, about 2 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides occasionally.

ROASTED CALABAZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Seed and peel calabaza, then cut into 3/4-inch-wide pieces (about 3 inches long).
• Toss with oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, then divide between 2 large shallow heavy baking pans, spreading in 1 layer.
• Roast calabaza, switching position of pans and turning calabaza over halfway through cooking, until tender and starting to caramelize, 35 to 45 minutes.