Puchero, My Fall Mexican Casserole
While I was studying abroad in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula years back, my host mom made a version of a fall-like stew/casserole that she called puchero. Her signature dish was made with butternut squash, plantains, carrots, radishes, and a mild, green squash called chayote. My host mom boiled the veggies in a large pot with chicken stock, oregano, cilantro, garlic, onions, and lemon juice. Then, when the veggies were cooked, she added cabbage and noodles to the broth and served it as a first-course soup. When asked how this dish got its name, my host mom laughed and said, by squishing all the veggies with your hands after they’re cooked, they make a sound like, puch, puch, puchero. Here I’ve adapted her recipe to my palette, substituting Yukon potatoes and yellow crookneck squash for radishes and chayote. I’ve also omitted the cilantro and lime juice in the broth, cutting back on the lemon juice, among other changes. This is a perfect dish for fall when the days are cooler and you crave something hardy!
Ingredients
- 2 ripe, small plantain bananas, see tip.
- 1 x 1.5-pound butternut squash
- 1 yellow crookneck squash
- 2 medium Yukon potatoes
- 2 large carrots
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 15 sprigs of oregano in a satchel or tied in cheesecloth
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ t. ground black pepper
- *Note: add 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast for meat-eaters.
- *Tip: plantains are ready if soft when squeezed and could turn a little black.
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 400 °F, and while it’s heating, prep your butternut squash. First, take a sharp chef’s knife and slice both ends (the top and bottom) off your squash, so it sits squarely and is secure. Then, with the squash upright, use your knife, with care, to cut down vertically through this vegetable. If you’re having trouble cutting the squash, you can pierce the outer skin with a fork and microwave it for 30 seconds to soften the flesh, then try cutting it. After you’ve cut the squash in two, scoop out the seeds and baste the entire top and cavity with ¼ cup butter. Note: if you’re pressed on time, simply buy the pre-made cubes of squash and brush them with butter. Bake for 40-55 minutes or until the halved squashes are fork-tender or 25-35 minutes for cubes.
- Step 2 While the squash is baking, prep the rest of the vegetables. First, wash and scrub the carrots, trimming off both ends. Toss them whole into a 6-8-quart stockpot. Second, wash the plantains, crookneck squash, and potato, and add them to the stockpot whole, without peeling any of the veggies, including the plantains. Third, pour 8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, into the stockpot depending if you’re vegan, vegetarian, or a meat-eater. Fourth, insert 15 sprigs of oregano in a satchel or tie in a cheesecloth and add to the stockpot. Fifth, chop 1 cup of onion and 3 cloves of garlic and toss into the stockpot along with the juice of one lemon.
- Step 3 Next, bring the broth and vegetables to a boil over high heat on the stovetop and lower to a simmer, boiling the veggies for 30 minutes or until fork-tender. After they’re cooked, lift the veggies out of the broth and set them aside, reserving the broth for a soup if you’d like. Try adding cabbage and noodles to make a soup, like my host mom did.
- Step 4 Now, let the vegetables cool until they’re safe to handle. When they’re cool to touch, remove the skin from the potato and the peel from the plantains. Squish both veggies with your fingers until they make a clumpy paste. Next, scoop out the flesh from the butternut squash, ridding it of its skin. Then, squish it with your fingers, too. After this, take your yellow squash and toss out some of its inside if you don’t like the texture. Lastly, take the carrots and squish them, too. Mix all the veggies and season, adding a little salt if needed. Note: the casserole should be sweet, so don’t add too much salt, which would override the innate sweetness of this dish.
- Step 5 Serve with rice. I like plain rice to accompany this dish. But my host mom made a yellow Spanish rice with 1 cube of chicken bouillon per cup of water, 2 cloves of garlic, ¼ cup of diced yellow onion, and a few strands of saffron. Serve warm and enjoy!
My puchero is a fall casserole that I’ve adapted from my Mexican host mom’s signature recipe. My version calls for butternut squash, plantain bananas, carrots, yellow crookneck squash, and Yukon potatoes. It takes its name from squishing the veggies between your fingers, puch, puch, puchero.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Servings per recipe: 4, calories: 309, total fat: 11.7 g., saturated fat: 6.5 g., cholesterol: 24 mg., sodium: 1315 mg., total carbohydrate: 42.9 g., dietary fiber: 3.9 g., total sugars: 5.4 g., protein: 10.6 g., calcium: 87 mg., iron: 2 mg., potassium: 807 mg., vitamin D: 6 mcg.