Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Enchiladas
I have had Pumpkin Enchiladas on the brain and finally found some time to bring my dreams to life. I absolutely love oven roasted pumpkin, it is the perfect balance sweet and subtle char and the best part: the pumpkin gets soft but stays firm. There are so many things that can be done with oven roasted pumpkin & I have several more recipes floating around in my head – just waiting for the opportunity to be eaten!
For this recipe, I kept the seasoning simple. I used my pre-mixed Taco Seasoning blend for seasoning the pumpkin, potatoes & the turkey. That short cut was a real time saver.
I also over roasted the potatoes ((and onions)) after cutting them into micro-cubes. Oh, you haven’t heard of the term “mirco-cube”? Well, it isn’t difficult, I just cube the potatoes and onions into a very small chunk. This allows them to roast in about 20 minutes ((which is a huge time saver)). Also, micro-cubes of potatoes fit into the corn tortilla better.
For the pumpkin, I prefer working with pumpkin pie pumpkins. I washed the outside, halved the pumpkin, removed the seeds and then quartered the halves. I rubbed the pumpkin sections with a little vegetable oil, sprinkled them with Taco Seasoning and roasted them on parchment paper for 30 minutes. The pumpkin skin lifts right off when the pumpkin is prepared this way! This makes working with a pumpkin so much easier.
I browned the turkey meat, seasoned it with my Taco Seasoning blend & salted to taste.
After all of the filling components were ready, I made the yummy pumpkin cream cheese sauce for the top of the enchiladas. Browned butter and freshly grated nutmeg made this sauce magical.
Kade is my boy who cringes at the sight of potato and I would imagine pumpkin would be received just as “well”. So I made Kade his own dish of Taco Seasoned Turkey Taquitos…that’s right…corn tortillas filled with grated cheese and seasoned turkey. He was happy that I didn’t subject him to my pumpkin daydream. ((I was happy too for the record)).
I set up an enchilada filling station and proceeded to fill each tortilla with a SMALL amount of turkey, potato, pumpkin & grated white cheddar. I rolled them up ((after heating the tortillas to make them pliable)) carefully and placed them in a baking dish that had about 2 cups of the prepared sauce in the bottom.
This may not look like 2 cups of sauce ((and probably isn’t, but it needed to be…my enchiladas were a little on the DRY side)).
In the background of this picture, you can see another dish of enchiladas. I made enough for mom & dad’s dinner too.
Cover the enchiladas with the pumpkin cream cheese sauce. Just when you think you have enough, add more. Try to allow the sauce to seep between each enchilada.
Cover the enchiladas with non-stick foil and bake them for 30 minutes until they are hot and bubbly. Remove the foil and allow the top to brown ((I used the broil function – but be careful! It can burn in a flash.)).
- 1 lb browned turkey (I used half turkey breast & half turkey thigh)
- 4 medium micro-diced potatoes
- 1 medium micro-diced sweet yellow onion
- 1 small pumpkin pie pumpkin, halved and seeded
- 1 c hand-shredded white cheddar cheese
- Pre-blended homemade Taco Seasoning*
- sea salt
- cooking oil
- I block of light cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 can 2% evaporated milk
- 8 oz chicken stock (possibly more to reach desired thickness)
- 2 T salted butter, browned
- 1 c hand-shredded white cheddar cheese
- 1/2 c light sour cream
- 1/2 t freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 c roasted pumpkin
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 18 corn tortillas
- Preheat over to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Season potatoes & onions with 1 T taco seasoning blend and salt and pepper. Drizzle 1-2 t of cooking oil over the potatoes and toss to coat. Spread potatoes and onions out on the lined baking sheet.
- Quarter each pumpkin half and rub with oil. Sprinkle each pumpkin wedge with taco seasoning. Arrange pumpkin wedges on lined baking sheet.
- Place both baking sheets in a preheated oven for 20- 30 minutes. You will need to keep a close eye for the desired outcome. I preferred the pumpkin to be tender but firm, 22 minutes was the perfect amount of roasting time for my pumpkin. 30 minutes was the perfect amount time to roast the potatoes to a golden crisp.
- Once pumpkin is finished roasting, remove pumpkin peel an dice pumpkin into chunks equal in size to the potatoes.
- Season the browned turkey with 2 T taco seasoning and sea salt to taste.
- Set aside for assembly.
- In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine cream cheese, canned evaporated milk & chicken stock. Stir frequently until combined. In a small skillet, brown 2 T of butter. Be sure to brown it (a nutty, golden brown color), not burn it (smoky black). Add the browned butter, along with the shredded cheese, sour cream, pumpkin and freshly ground pepper & sea salt (to taste) to the cream cheese mixture. Heat sauce through and continue cooking on a low simmer until desired thickness is reached.
- Prepare corn tortillas according to package instructions.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Pour 2 cups of cream sauce into the bottom of a prepared 9"x13" baking dish. Place 1-2 t of each: turkey, potato, pumpkin & cheese into the center of the corn tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place in the baking dish. Repeat, until the enchiladas are neatly, not loosely, arranged in the dish.
- Pour remaining space over the top of the enchiladas, taking care to allow the sauce to ooze around and between each enchilada. Top with remaining shredded cheese and a few sprinkles of freshly grated nutmeg.
- Cover the enchiladas with non-stick foil and bake for 25 minutes until heated through and bubbly.
- Remove foil and broil for 2-3 minutes, until top turns golden brown.
- Serves 8-10.
- *Click on the link in the body of the blog for the Taco Seasoning recipe.
Oh – and for all of my GF friends, this one is GF – happy day!