DENVER — Calabacitas is a dish that is truly a Southwestern favorite.
Made with squash, onion, corn, tomatoes and cheese, you'll find this sautéed dish to be healthy, comforting and satisfying.
Calabacitas recipe
Ingredients
- 2 summer squash (you can cube them or slice them in half moon shape but not too thick but not thin because they’ll get mushy)
- 2 zucchini squash (same advice for chopping)
- 2 patty pan squash (when available)
- 1 bundle of fresh cilantro (I usually mix it with onions when I sauté them and not only for flavor but for color)
- 1 whole onion (I use white onion but it really is your preference)
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons of salt (taste once it’s all together and make the determination if you need to add more)
- ½ teaspoon of pepper (same as salt, either add more or less to your taste)
- 1 teaspoon of cumin (now it’s not the spice for everyone but a hint in combination with cilantro and oregano is fabulous!)
- 2 teaspoons of crushed oregano
- ½ cube butter, not margarine or use a tablespoon of olive oil
- 4-6 cobs of corn (you want to shuck off the cob; if not in season, use frozen corn)
- 3 tomatoes (cubed)
- ½ cup evaporated milk (can add more if you like)
- 1 cup cheese (more or less dependent on your taste)
Directions
- When the white scalloped patty pan squash are in season, I dice up all 3 and set them aside.
- Chop your cilantro and onions small.
- Melt your butter in a pan that will hold everything, and sauté your onions, cilantro, a tablespoon of minced garlic for a couple of minutes and then add fresh corn and sauté together for a couple of minutes.
- Add tomatoes and let the flavors blend for 5 minutes.
- Then add the squash (for a smaller batch just cut back on ingredients), spices and let cook but stir every 5 minutes for 12 minutes. You don’t want your squash to get mushy and you want a little firmness to it.
- Add evaporated milk, stir and then add cheese.
- Let it simmer for a few minutes and taste. Squash should be firm and not mushy.
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