Butternut Squash Wontons or Tacos:

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Fall makes me think of Halloween, pumpkin carving, and best of all, the food. My mom always makes this amazing butternut squash soup, and tops it off with Thai gremolata. If you don't know, a gremolata is a mixture of chopped herbs. My favorite is the Thai gremolata, which has cilantro, peanuts, and lemon juice that adds a refreshing crunch to the soup. Since Fall is around the corner, I thought, we've got to make something with butternut squash! The first thing that came to my hungry mind was warm tacos! Tacos sounded great, but I had never tasted one before; so, I decided to try making butternut squash tacos as a trial for dinner one Sunday night. However, we were out of soft tacos so we decided to use wonton wraps instead. Then after some cilantro slicing and peanut crushing, Thai gremolata was sprinkled on top of it, and oh, it was the best thing I had ever tasted! I hope you enjoy these wontons as much as I did!- Chef Ria.

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Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

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1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 small butternut squash
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Trader Joe's taco seasoning
1/2 small onion
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp olive oil (extra for squash to bake)
32 wonton wrapers

Thai Gremolata for topping:
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1/2 tsp of lemon zest
2 tbsp of crushed peanuts

Chopped scallions (optional)

 

Procedure:

For the Squash:

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Cut the butternut squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Put on a baking tray and drizzle with the extra olive oil. Bake the butternut squash at 450 degrees F until soft enough to cut. Then chop the squash into cubes after removing the skin. In a pan, put the rest of olive oil and the onions. when onions brown, add the squash and taco seasoning, cumin and salt. Stir for 30 seconds, add the vegetable broth to soften the squash, and cover. When the vegetable broth has evaporated a little, mash the squash. Cook until vegetable broth is fully evaporated. Spray a miniature muffin pan with cooking spray. Insert wonton wrappers into the muffin pan so as to form small cups. Fill the wontons with the butternut squash mix. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 5-7 minutes in the preheated oven until the wontons look crispy, golden brown. To prevent the edges of the wontons from burning, lightly brush edges of wonton wrappers with water. Top it with Thai gramolata before serving. 

 

For the Thai gremolata:

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Smash the peanuts with a rolling pin and chop up the cilantro. In a small bowl, add lemon juice and lemon zest and mix. Top your wontons/tacos before serving- and, enjoy!