Stuffed Poblano Chili with Mole Negro Recipe

Ingredients

Mole Negro Sauce

• 3 dried ancho chilies, seeds and stem removed, crumbled
• 3 dried pasilla negro chiles, seeds and stem removed, crumbled
• 3 cups water or broth
• 0.75 cup seedless prunes (or raisins)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin (ground or seeds)
• 1 teaspoon coriander (ground or seeds)
• 0.75 teaspoon cinnamon
• 0.125 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 canned chipotle peppers, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1.5 teaspoons salt, more to taste
• 0.25 cup peanut butter (or sub tahini, almond butter, cashew butter)
• 1 ounce dark bittersweet chocolate

Stuffed Poblanos

• 1 cup cooked quinoa (or rice)
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• salt and pepper to taste
• 0.5 teaspoon cumin and coriander
• 6 tablespoons goat cheese (optional)

Garnish

• toasted sesame seeds
• cilantro

Instructions

Mole Negro Sauce

1. In a small pot, place the crumbled dried chilies and cover with the 3 cups of broth. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer covered, 10 minutes. Add prunes, stir, cover, simmer 10 more minutes, turn heat off, let cool saving the liquid.
2. In a saute pan, saute the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil, over medium heat, stirring often until deeply golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Take your time here and let them darken. Add the spices (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, chili powder) and saute 1-2 more minutes, toasting the spices.
3. Place the cooked onion mixture in a blender along with the chilies and prunes and all the liquid, 1-2 chipotles and the adobo sauce. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides, adding just enough water to get the blender going. Once very smooth, pour this back into the pot and heat over low heat, covering. When warm, stir in the salt, peanut butter and chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, taste and add more salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on very low heat 10 minutes.

Prepare the Poblanos

1. Roast the poblanos over an open flame or broil in the oven, turning often, until skin begins to blister and darken on most sides. Place peppers in a bowl, cover with foil, and let steam 10-15 minutes.
2. Gently run the peppers under cool water and peel skin off being careful to keep the pepper intact. Cut a vertical slit in the pepper and leaving stem intact, remove seeds with your fingers, rinsing the inside. Set on a paper towel, pat dry and place on a greased sheet pan.

Assemble and Bake

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cooked quinoa and black beans together, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste, adding cumin and coriander.
3. Fill the peppers halfway with the quinoa-black bean mixture. Add a tablespoon of goat cheese (optional, but delicious) then cover with more quinoa-black bean mixture, so the goat cheese is in the middle. Place in a greased baking dish or sheet pan.
4. Heat them in the oven for 20 mins or until heated all the way through and goat cheese melts. Spoon the flavorful warm mole negro sauce over top.
5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cilantro and serve.

Notes

• Read the recipe all the way through - you may want to make this in stages. Prepare the mole, quinoa, and roast peppers ahead, then assemble and bake the next day.
• This recipe is vegan adaptable (skip the goat cheese) and gluten-free.
• The mole sauce should taste deep and smokey, slightly salty and sweet. If it tastes bland, add more salt to bring out the other flavors.