Butternut Squash, Parsnip Quesadilla With Ginger-Lime Beet Salsa
By: Anonymous
Published: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 2:52am

Ingredients




2 parsnips
2 teaspoons butter
Coarse salt and cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Olive oil
small butternut squash
garlic clove, minced
teaspoon ground cumin
2 large (burrito sized) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Optional sour cream
Ginger-Lime Beet Salsa 
1 medium golden beet
1 medium red beet
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon basil, rolled and sliced thin
cup  cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh red chili pepper
1 small garlic clove, minced
cup sweet onion, minced 
Coarse salt and cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon  olive oil

Preparation

1 FOR THE PUREES

Preheat oven to 375°F 2 Peel and chop parsnips into similar size pieces. Place in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil. Let parsnips boil for a while, check for doneness with a fork (parsnips are tough, let them get very soft). Drain water and cool for 5 minutes. Use a paddle whip or hand mixer to mash parsnips; add 1 tablespoon of butter, a pinch of salt and pepper and nutmeg and set aside.  3 While parsnips are boiling, slice butternut squash in half again. (Reserve the rest of butternut squash for another recipe). Drizzle the quarter of butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place flesh side down onto a baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fork-tender. Meanwhile, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and minced garlic to a small sauté pan over medium-high heat and sauté for only 30 seconds stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, but not burned. Set aside. 4 Once squash is done, remove from the oven and cool for several minutes. Then scoop out the flesh, discard seeds and place roasted squash into a mixing bowl. Add cumin, a pinch of salt and pepper and garlic butter to the bowl. Use a mixer with a paddle whip or a hand mixer to mash until just combined. Set aside. 5 Adjust oven to broil.
Lay out two tortillas on a baking sheet. Spread about a 1/2 cup of roasted parsnip and 1/2 cup of butternut squash over each tortilla. Divide mozzarella on top of each tortilla and fold the tortillas in half. Place baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven. Cook for 1 minute, flip quesadillas and cook for 1 more minute- watch so they don't burn! Remove from oven. Use a knife or pizza slicer to cut quesadillas. Top with Ginger-Lime Beet Salsa and optional sour cream and serve. 6 FOR THE SALSA (Makes approx. 1 ½ cup):

Preheat oven to 400°F
After removing stems, rinse beets well and place in a small baking pan. Cover securely with foil. Place into the oven and let cook for approximately 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes- they will be done when a knife can be easily inserted into each one. 7 While beets are cooking, add ginger, lime juice, basil, cilantro, chili pepper, garlic, sweet onion, a pinch of salt and pepper and olive oil to a medium sized mixing bowl. Once beets are done, remove from the oven and cool slightly. Use a paper towel to easily remove the beet skins. Keep golden beets separate from the red beets (to preserve their golden color). Cut both beets into small dice and place only the red beets into the mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Season to taste with a pi

About


This is a recipe from my most recent cookbook, EAT & DRINK in the Northwest , a recipe and wine pairing cookbook pairing all northwest-inspired ingredients with all Northwest wines. This recipe is pretty fun- a new idea for two fall and winter favorites-butternut squash and beets! For the salsa lover who wants to eat locally, and doesn’t want to eat out of season tomatoes from who knows where- you can get inspired with this beet salsa that not only tastes sweet, fresh and tangy- it looks like a bowl of ruby jewels just waiting to be sprinkled on a quesadilla, topped on a salad or scooped up with chips. You can also add chicken or steak to the quesadillas for another intersting twist.
Melissa Peterman, Northwest Chef

Comments:
Sheri Wetherell

Looks delicious and I love spinach tortillas!
Melissa Peterman

This photo was taken at an event where the quesadilla was made into appetizers. I used spinach tortillas, which gave it a very loud, although fun, color.
Barnaby Dorfman

Sounds wonderful, do you have any pictures?
Lady Catherine ...

Looks so good! Yummy! :)