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Smoked Butternut Squash Cashew Cheese Nachos

Ingredients

Yields 2 quarts sauce

For the Butternut squash cashew cheese sauce

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon chili flake
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ whole yellow onion (small diced)
  • 4 garlic cloves (small diced)
  • 1 quart butternut squash (smoked for 2 hours)
  • 1 ¼ cup cashews
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the nachos

  • 8 cups tortilla chips
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 cup pico de gallo or chunky salsa
  • 1-2 scallions, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup cilantro leaves (optional)

 

Instructions

For the Butternut squash cashew cheese sauce

  1. Heat oil in pot over medium high heat, once oil is hot, add the turmeric and chili flake and toast until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onions, garlic, smoked butternut squash, and cashews to the pan and stir the ingredients together. Continue to cook until caramelized or until the squash turns golden brown in color, about 5-7 minutes.
  2. Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce the liquid by half. Add the nutritional yeast and water, stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes until butternut squash is fork tender. Add apple cider vinegar and continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, place in blender, and blend until sauce has a smooth and creamy finish with no chunks or bits of cashew remaining. Transfer the blended sauce into a stock pot and place the sauce over medium heat, season with salt and pepper. Reduce the sauce until thickened, approximately 3-5 minutes.

For the nachos

  1. Prepare the cashew cheese sauce (recipe listed above) and keep the sauce hot prior to serving.
  2. Once your queso is ready (and hot), heat up your black beans in a small saucepan and season with a little sea salt and desired spices (optional: garlic, cumin, chili powder).
  3. Arrange the tortilla chips on a large serving platter and top the chips with the cheese sauce, covering each chip. Add additional toppings including the black beans, salsa, scallions, and cilantro.
  4. Serve and enjoy!

 

Recipe created by Patrick Youse