Recipe: Cactus Restaurant Butternut Squash Enchiladas - Similar (2 recipes)

There is no copycat/clone recipe of the recipe you seek nor has the restaurant released the recipe. I did however find two recipes from people trying to make the recipe on their own. They are not claiming clone/copycat status so you will have to judge for yourself how close they have got and tweak it further. That is all that is out there.

SQUASH ENCHILADAS WITH MOLE ROJO AND GOAT CHEESE
Source: allpurposeflour blog, Oct. 16, 2016
Makes 4 servings

8 corn tortillas
4 oz monterey jack
4 oz chevre goat cheese
1 small squash such as butternut or sugar pumpkin
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided plus more for crisping tortillas
2 cups kale, roughly chopped
FOR THE MOLE ROJO:
1/4 cup avocado oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup raisins (golden or regular)
1/4 cup almonds
1 oz dark chocolate
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp masa (or finely ground cornmeal)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
2 cups chicken stock
1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes
TO GARNISH:
avocado, sliced
radish, thinly sliced
sour cream
fresh squeeze of lime

TO ROAST THE SQUASH:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and inner membrane. Lay on a baking tray cut side up and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, until fork tender. Let cool slightly then peel skin off and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside until ready to assemble enchiladas.

TO MAKE THE MOLE:
While the pumpkin is baking, make the mole, caramelized onions, and saute the kale. To make the mole, start by toasting the sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Set aside. Heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic cloves, chili powder, and ancho chile powder and toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the raisins, almonds, and sesame seeds and cook another 30 seconds. Add the chocolate, brown sugar, masa, cinnamon, ground cloves, chicken stock, and tomatoes (including their juices). Stir to combine and simmer over medium low heat for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool then pour mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Reheat in a pot when ready to assemble enchiladas.

TO CARAMELIZE THE ONIONS AND SAUTE THE KALE:
In a large skillet, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring often until caramelized and dark brown. This should take about 30 minutes. Pour in a bowl and set aside. In the same skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and saute the kale until wilted and dark green, about 10 minutes or so. Set aside.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Turn the oven on broil. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat a drizzle of olive oil and crisp both sides of each tortilla until crisp and golden. On a large baking tray or cookie sheet, lay out 4 tortillas and spread each with a generous spoonful of the mole. Add a layer of caramelized onions, an ounce of crumbled goat cheese, generous handful of each of kale and pumpkin cubes. Add the second tortilla and spread on more mole then top each with an ounce of shredded monterey jack. Broil in the oven until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Serve with sliced radish, avocado, sour cream, and lime juice.

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ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH ENCHILADAS WITH GOAT CHEESE AND MOLE
Source: Cordon Pink blog, Oct. 7, 2009

MANCHAMANTELES MOLE
"I found the recipe for the mole here. As I mentioned, quite the time consuming process, but it made a ton of sauce that I can keep for another recipe. The flavor is very nutty and spicy."

6 Dried Guajillo Chiles
1 Dried Ancho chile
4 c Boiling water
1.5 Cans of 14.5oz chopped tomatoes
Olive Oil
1/2 c Toasted Sesame Seeds
1 White onion; roughly chopped
1/4 c Whole raw almonds
1/4 c Raw pecans
1/4 c Raisins
4 Garlic cloves; halved
2 Whole cloves(or 2 pinches ground cloves)
2 Black peppercorns
1 Whole Allspice
1 Cinnamon stick -; (2″ long) (or 1 tbspn ground cinnamon)
2 Fresh oregano sprigs (or 1/2 tspn dried oregano)
1 ccup Chicken stock (I used store bought, but you could make your own)
1 16oz Can of pineapple sliced (drained)
Salt
1 1/2 Tablespoon Sugar

Remove stems, seeds and veins from both kinds of chiles ( I wore gloves). Toast chiles in skillet or on griddle over low heat until slightly fragrant and beginning to blister. Be careful not to burn chiles. Put chiles in bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let soak 20 to 30 minutes (the longer they soak, the less hot they become).

While waiting, Cook tomatoes in dry skillet over medium heat until dry, about 20 minutes. Blend well in blender. Transfer to bowl. Grind the toasted sesame seeds in a spice grinder or with mortar and pestle. Once chiles are done soaking transfer chiles from bowl to blender with slotted spoon and puree, adding some of soaking water if needed to blend well. Pass pureed chiles through sieve or food mill and set aside.

Return skillet to medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and transparent, about 10 minutes. Add almonds, pecans, raisins, garlic, cloves, peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon and oregano and saute, stirring constantly, until brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

ransfer to blender and add 1 cup chicken stock and pineapple. Blend until smooth.

Put 2 tablespoons oil in large pot and heat over medium heat until slight haze forms over oil. Add chile puree and fry, stirring constantly, until dry, about 20 minutes. Mixture will splatter, so carefully partially cover pot with towel. Add tomatoes, sesame seeds and onion mixture and cook, stirring constantly, 10 minutes. Add chicken stock to make fairly loose mixture, 4 to 6 cups, and continue cooking, adding more stock as necessary. Set aside or if you make it the night before you can put it in the fridge. It should keep for about a week.

Mole recipe is heavily adapted from the Los Angeles Times - 04-28-1999 Recipe from Billy Cross, founder of the Napa Valleys Great Chefs of France Cooking School

Now that part is finally done, we can start on the actual enchiladas!

TO PREPARE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH
2 Large butternut squash peeled and chopped into 1"cubes (remove any seeds)
1\/2 Cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon chipotle chili powder
2 Teaspoons cumin Powder
2 Teaspoons garlic Powder
2 Sprigs thyme chopped
2 Sprigs oregano chopped
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix olive oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic, thyme, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Put squash in a large roasting pan and cover with olive oil mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes until soft and brownish. Once you remove them from the oven smash them up a bit with a fork. Not too much as there still should be chunks.

MEANWHILE, YOU CAN START CARMELIZING SOME ONIONS:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1-2 Red Onions sliced 1/4 inch thick.
Salt

Add butter and olive oil to a medium skillet pan on medium heat until butter is melted. Add the onions and stir to coat with oil/butter mixture. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally.

After about 15 minutes add a dash of salt. Keep stirring every few minutes for about 30 minutes total. You can lower the heat if they start to burn. You want them just slightly brown.

While the onions are carmelizing, you try and saut some spinach if you are good at multi-tasking. However, if you have problems with this, then just wait until the onions are done.

TO PREPARE THE SAUTEED SPINACH:
1 1/2 Bag of fresh spinach (2 or 3 cups)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, minced (Do not use the jarred stuff. It is disgusting. Just sayin)

Add olive oil to a medium skillet pan on medium heat until oil shimmers. Add garlic and saut for a minute or so until fragrant. Add the spinach and saut until wilted.

FINALLY TIME FOR ASSEMBLY:

8 Burrito Size White Corn Tortillas ( lightly fry each one in small amount of oil for aboutt 30 seconds each)
Manchamanteles Mole
Roasted Butternut Squash
Saut ed Spinach
Carmelized onions
2 small rolls of Goat Cheese
2 cups of Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
Pico de Gallo and Sour Cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the dish with about a cup of the mole sauce.

Next setup an assembly line with all of the ingredients. Dip 1 tortilla in the mole and cover completely. Add about a 1/2 cup to 1 cup (depending how big you want the burrites) of the squash. Add a spoonful of the onions and spinach each to the tortilla. Spread out evenly. Add a few Tablespoons of goat cheese. Roll it up with the edges tucked in. Continue this process for all 8 burritos adding each one to the pan when completed.

Cover with Jack cheese and bake for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbly and browned in spots.

Serve garnished with Pico de Gallo and sour cream.

burrito plated