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Stuffed Green Chiles with Walnut Sauce (Chiles en Nogada)
Developed from various online recipes by me.
I wanted to serve a festive vegetarian dish for Christmas from Mexico and found a recipe that uses mushrooms to create a filling similar to the traditional pork based stuffing. I played with ingredients to achieve the flavors I remembered and I think it came out rather well
6 fresh Poblano chiles
450 g1 lb. fresh mushrooms - chopped
½ cup olive oil
1 small onion - chopped
240 ml1 cup chopped celery root
240 ml1 cup chopped winter squash
6-8 green olives, chopped
79 ml1/3 cup raisins, minced (or other dried fruit)
240 ml1 cup cooked quinoa
30 ml2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 small can tomato paste
½ cup water or vegetable broth (more is desired)
juice of ½ lemon
5 ml1 tsp. sugar
1 clove garlic (optional)
½ cup Mexican Crema (or sour cream)
240 ml1 cup almond milk (or more to achieve desired consistency)
240 ml1 cup walnuts
salt to taste
Pomegranate seeds to garnish.
Roast chiles over flame or under broiler until skins are blackened. Place them in a paper bag and close the top to allow them to steam.
Cook ½ cup quinoa in 1 cup of water, simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender (follow directions on package).
Chop mushrooms. Add oil to pan, add mushrooms and cook on medium heat until they sweat. Add onion, celery root, squash and cover for 5-10 minutes to soften. Remove cover and continue to cook until veggies are beginning to fry. Add cooked quinoa, olives, raisins, salt and pepper, cinnamon and vinegar to taste. Set aside.
Peel chilies. Make a slit in each from stem to tip and remove seeds. Stuff each chili with the mushroom mixture leaving an opening where you have made the slit.
Mix tomato paste, broth, lemon juice and a small amount of sugar. Add pressed garlic if desired. Pour tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place chilies on top of tomato sauce. Cover in foil and bake in a 365º oven for 20-30 minutes until peppers are tender and sauce is bubbling.
Combine walnuts, crema and almond milk in blender and blend until smooth. Add more almond milk to thin to a medium thick sauce. Add salt to taste. When chilies are done, remove foil, move chilies and sauce to a serving dish, pour walnut sauce across the chilies, and top with pomegranate seeds.
Serves six.
It helps to have a food processor to chop the vegies.
The tomato sauce is optional (but nice). Just add a little water to the pan to keep the chiles from sticking if not using the tomato sauce.