Pipián Rojo–Braised Winter Squash
Excerpted with permission from The Yearlong Pantry by Erin Alderson, published by Hardie Grant Publishing, 2024. Photographs by Erin Scott.
Cookbook author Erin Alderson finds squash to be one of the “meatier” vegetables that can really hold its own in a rich sauce. Her favorite combination is kabocha squash with a hearty mole. While a truly good mole is a labor of love and time, this Pipián Rojo is an adjacent, flavor-packed sauce that really shows the power of seeds but is not as technically involved.
This recipe, and others like it, can be found in the article “Your Spice Rack Is the Only Thing You Need to Make These Easy Vegetarian Recipes.”
How to Make It
1
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2
Make the sauce: Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and heat a large dry skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles to the skillet and toast until the chiles are soft and starting to brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Let the chiles cool slightly, then remove the stems and seeds. Transfer the chiles to the boiling water, cover, turn off the heat, and allow to soak for 20 minutes.
3
While the chiles soak, arrange the pepitas, sesame seeds, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin on a small sheet pan in a single layer. Toast in the oven for 15 minutes, until the seeds have darkened in color and the spices are fragrant.
4
Cut the onion half into four wedges. Return the skillet used for toasting the chiles to medium-high heat with the 1 tbsp avocado oil. Add the onion wedges and sear until charred, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Add the garlic and half of the tomato paste, and cook until the garlic is a deep golden color. Add the vegetable broth and remaining tomato paste. Add the raisins and salt, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes.
5
Drain the chiles and place in a high-speed blender along with the seed mixture and the onion mixture. Purée until smooth, adding more vegetable broth as needed to create a sauce. Taste and add salt as needed.
6
Prepare the squash: Wipe out the skillet, add the oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the squash wedges. Cook until well seared, flip, and repeat on the other side, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
7
Reduce the heat to low, pour in the sauce, and shake the pan back and forth until the squash wedges are covered. Cover and let cook until the squash is quite tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
8
To serve: Transfer the squash and cooked sauce to a serving bowl. Squeeze the lime over the squash and garnish with the cilantro.
Ingredients
For the Pipián Rojo
2 dried mild chiles, such as New Mexico
1 dried medium chile, such as guajillo
1 dried mild smoky chile, such as ancho
¼ cup raw pepitas
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
½ cinnamon stick, or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 allspice berries, or 1/4 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp cumin seeds, or 1/2 tsp ground cumin
½ large yellow onion
1 tbsp avocado oil
3 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tbsp tomato paste, divided
1 cup vegetable broth, plus more as needed
3 tbsp raisins
½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
For the Squash
½ medium kabocha squash, seeds removed, cut into wedges
3 tbsp avocado oil
For Serving
1 lime, quartered
¼ cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
1
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2
Make the sauce: Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and heat a large dry skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles to the skillet and toast until the chiles are soft and starting to brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Let the chiles cool slightly, then remove the stems and seeds. Transfer the chiles to the boiling water, cover, turn off the heat, and allow to soak for 20 minutes.
3
While the chiles soak, arrange the pepitas, sesame seeds, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin on a small sheet pan in a single layer. Toast in the oven for 15 minutes, until the seeds have darkened in color and the spices are fragrant.
4
Cut the onion half into four wedges. Return the skillet used for toasting the chiles to medium-high heat with the 1 tbsp avocado oil. Add the onion wedges and sear until charred, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Add the garlic and half of the tomato paste, and cook until the garlic is a deep golden color. Add the vegetable broth and remaining tomato paste. Add the raisins and salt, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes.
5
Drain the chiles and place in a high-speed blender along with the seed mixture and the onion mixture. Purée until smooth, adding more vegetable broth as needed to create a sauce. Taste and add salt as needed.
6
Prepare the squash: Wipe out the skillet, add the oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the squash wedges. Cook until well seared, flip, and repeat on the other side, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
7
Reduce the heat to low, pour in the sauce, and shake the pan back and forth until the squash wedges are covered. Cover and let cook until the squash is quite tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
8
To serve: Transfer the squash and cooked sauce to a serving bowl. Squeeze the lime over the squash and garnish with the cilantro.
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