What Are Butternut Squash Enchiladas?

Butternut squash enchiladas are enchiladas made with a ripe butternut squash. An enchilada, which is Spanish for with chili, is a popular Mexican food that was probably inspired by Aztec cuisine. It is made by enclosing a spicy vegetable or meat filling inside a tortilla and then baking the tortilla; a tortilla is a type of flat bread. Enchiladas are usually eaten with hot sauce, and are sold by street food vendors and in restaurants in Mexico, the United States and in South America; they also have a following in many other parts of the world as well.

The ingredients required to make butternut squash enchiladas are butternut squash, corn kernels, black beans, onion, chili powder, salt and pepper. Butternut squash, known botanically as Cucurbita moschata, is a yellow-skinned, orange-fleshed winter squash that has a sweet, rather nut-like taste. It is excellent to eat health-wise as it is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and potassium.

The skin and the seeds, although edible, are usually removed when preparing butternut squash for making enchiladas. The squash is sliced into small cubes and boiled in water for a few minutes until the cubes are tender; they shouldn't be mushy. The cubes are drained and set aside. The chopped onion, beans and corn are fried in vegetable oil until the onions turn translucent. Salt and pepper are added for seasoning as required, and then the squash cubes are added to the pan. After a few minutes of frying, the pan is removed from the heat and the fried mixture is mashed and then allowed to cool.

The mashed mixture is then placed in the center of a buttered tortilla and the tortilla is rolled up. The tortilla rolls are placed in a baking pan and topped with cheese. The enchilada rolls are baked in an oven for about 10 minutes and they are then ready to eat.

The butternut squash enchiladas may be eaten as they are or, preferably, with a sauce. To make the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, onions and peppers are chopped and fried in vegetable oil. Crushed garlic, salt, pepper and chili powder are then added to the pan, along with a little water. The cooked vegetables are processed in a blender with a little more water, if required, to get a smooth sauce. This hot enchilada sauce is either poured over the butternut squash enchiladas, or the enchiladas are dipped in the sauce.