Chiles En Nogada – Stuffed Peppers in Walnut Sauce

I was always a bit scared off the amount of ingredients in Chiles en Nogada (Chiles in Walnut Sauce) but I’m so glad I tackled it as it’s a really great recipe! I’ve modified it a bit to make it a bit simpler to try at home. This Traditional Mexican dish is a stuffed pepper filled with pork “picadillo” that’s loaded with nuts, fruits and spices. Finally it is drizzled in walnut-cream sauce (which is very hard not to eat straight out of the blender) and garnished with pomegranate seeds and coriander. Its INSANELY tasty, definately the worlds best stuffed pepper recipe! Said to have been created by Pueblan nuns in the 1820s to celebrate Mexican Independence and the arrival of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide to their city, the one who helped design the Mexican Flag, the dish was made to represent the colours of the new Flag; red, white and green. This dish is traditionally served in late August and early September…. so I’m a bit late to the game now that its October but I think the colours of this dish are so festive I will probably be remaking for my family it in December!

by The Latina Cook

Ingredients (Serves: 5) Time: 30 Mins * The Walnut Sauce: 75g shelled walnuts, 125ml sour cream, 100g cream cheese, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 75ml milk * The Chiles: 5 large poblano chiles (Use only poblanos for this dish!) * Toppings: Coriander & Pomegranate seeds. * The Picadillo: * 500g ground pork * 1 onion, diced * 4 cloves garlic, minced * 400g/1 Tin Chopped tomatoes * 1 green apple peeled, cored and chopped. * 150g raisins & 200g dried apricots, chopped * 125g slivered almonds * Spices: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, ½ tsp clove, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme & Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

To make the Walnut sauce place the all the ingredients in a blender along with the cinnamon and salt to taste. Set aside for later.
Roast the poblano chiles under the grill on 190 until blackened, about 5 minutes per side.
Place chile in a ziplock bag and let the chile steam for 20 minutes.
While the chiles are steaming, heat up 1tbsp of oil and the chopped onion on a medium heat.
Cook until the onion is translucent and then stir in the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, clove and allspice.
Add the ground pork. Cook until lightly browned.
Add the chopped tomato, apple, raisins, dried apricots and almonds and add salt to taste.
Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings adding more liquid if necessary.
Take the chiles out of the bag and peel off the skin.
Cut a slit into each chile, lengthwise, and cut/scrape out the seeds (this is a bit fiddly but its okay if you can't remove every single last seed. Just most of them is fine.)
Stuff each chile with the picadillo filling.
To serve, place the chiles on a plate and pour over the walnut sauce. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and the cilantro for garnish.