Empanadas Flor de Calabaza from Oaxaca Restaurant
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| Wikimedia Commons |
| One empanada flor de calabaza filled with Oaxaca cheese and pretty wilted blossoms. |
This week: Empanadas Flor de Calabaza from Oaxaca Restaurant
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| Erica O'Neil |
| Pumpkin flower empanadas from Oaxaca Restaurant. |
(sink your teeth into all the spicy details after the jump)
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| Flickr- rAnDal... |
| Making pumpkin flower empanadas on a hot grill. |
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| Flickr- matsuyuki |
| Pretty little pumpkin flowers. |
El Sabor: The colorful green and orange pumpkin blossoms are chopped up into meaty chunks and sautéed until tender. The flavor is similar to the stalks of other green veggies like asparagus and broccoli, but without being fibrous or smelling funky. Then a bit of Oaxaca cheese is added to the blossoms to add saltiness, with its stringy mozzarella-type flavor. Press this mixture into a thick masa disk and fry until golden brown. The hearty empanada base and melty Oaxaca cheese turn an ephemeral, pretty flower into a hearty full blown meal.
Bring a bit of México to your kitchen: The good thing about Oaxaca Restaurant is that in addition to being our go to place for several types of mole, the mini mercado also sells plenty of hard-to-come-by Oaxacan ingredients. Mole bases (red, black, and Colorado), plenty of spices, sauces and other Oaxacan ingredients share shelf space off to the corner. So snag some ingredients to season your empanadas when your meal is done. We haven't seen much in the way of pumpkin flowers at our local mercado, but you can always substitute the easier to come by squash blossoms that taste almost the same.
Know of any Mexican gems in the Valley? Reveal your family secrets in the comment section.
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