Southwestern Spaghetti Squash Napoleon

Serves: 2

Written By Eydie Desser

I’m from Texas and just adore the flavors of the Southwest. We put a french twist on this recipe, by creating a Napoleon—a 3 layer dessert with puff pastry and pastry cream— not exactly Garden of Eydie fare, so we make it healthy and savory, using spaghetti squash tortillas, layered with butternut squash, black bean salsa and a mango chipotle glaze. Serve it with a big salad and you’ll be “fixin” this a lot!

Ingredients

For the Spaghetti Tortillas:

1 large spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (for flaxseed “egg”)
1 teaspoon. garlic granules
½ teaspoon. chili powder
¼ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon. freshly ground black pepper

For the Butternut Squash:

1 small butternut squash (1-½ - 2 lbs), peeled, seeded and diced into 1-½” pieces
juice of 1 lime
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon garlic granules
¼ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Black Bean Salsa:

1 can black beans, salt free
¼ cup store bought pico de gallo, (or homemade)

For the Mango Chipotle Glaze:

1 mango, peeled, flesh removed from stone, and roughly chopped
1-½ teaspoon Chipotle in Adobo sauce

To Serve:

3 handfuls, wild arugula
lemon juice and ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400℉ for cooking the spaghetti and butternut squash, and for warming up the Napoleons, just before serving.

Make the Spaghetti Squash Tortillas:

Slice ends off of the squash, and then slice in half from top to bottom. Remove the seeds and place flesh down on a parchment lined sheet pan. Cook for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the skin starts to brown and the squash is soft when inserted with a knife. Once the squash is cooked, remove it from the oven and cool. Using a fork, scrape the flesh from the skin making long strands. Place the squash flesh in a nut milk bag and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Meanwhile, make the flax egg; Mix 3 tablespoons of warm water with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed. Let sit for 15 minutes or so.
Place the squash, flaxseed egg and seasonings (garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin and pepper) in a food processor and pulse to combine and to break up the strands. Divide spaghetti squash mixture into 6 equal amounts and press down to make 6 round tortillas.

To Cook the Tortillas:

Heat a 12” non-stick or cast iron pan over medium high heat for a minute or two, or until hot. Place 3 tortillas in the heated pan, pressing down on them with a spatula. Lower the heat to medium and cook tortillas for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Flip over and brown the other side. Remove from the pan onto a parchment lined sheet pan, and continue with the other 3 tortillas. Reserve.

For the Butternut Squash Layer:

Season the prepared squash with the lime juice and spices. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for approximately 20 -25 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, mash with a fork or potato masher leaving it a little chunky.

For the Black Bean Salsa Layer:

Drain the black beans of their liquid, and place in a food processor along with the pico de gallo. Pulse to blend.

For the Mango Chipotle Glaze:

Place the prepared mango along with chipotle sauce in a small blender or processor and purée. Reserve in a small bowl.

Make the Napoleons:

Spread a spoonful or so of butternut squash mixture on top of 3 tortillas. And place another tortilla on top. Spread a spoonful or so of black bean salsa on top of the 2nd layer, then place another tortilla on top of that.
Warm the Napoleons in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until warmed through. Remove from the oven, and spread a spoonful of the mango chipotle sauce on top of the Napoleons.

To Serve:

Dress the arugula with lemon juice and black pepper and place a handful on each plate. Using a spatula, carefully lift the Napoleons, nestling them beautifully in the bed of arugula.