Pati Jinich’s Ancho Chile and Pumpkin Mole

You can do fabulous things with pumpkins aside from spooky faces and pumpkin pie. Just ask any Mexican! We certainly have a way with pumpkins… So, in honor of Day of the Dead, a cherished Mexican tradition, I wanted to share this pumpkin mole sauce with TLK readers.

Native to Mexico, pumpkins have been devoured for centuries – in their entirety. The seeds are addicting as snacks, used as a hefty base for salsas, soups and sauces, and more recently sprinkled on top of many traditional dishes. The pumpkin meat is used for soups and stews, and along with the entire rind cooked to make a piloncillo syrup, becoming a traditional favorite known as Tacha. Yet there is something else you can make with those fall pumpkins: Mole!

An easy to make, silky textured and exquisite tasting mole sauce that can bathe anything you can think of, this pumpkin and ancho chile mole sauce goes well with most everything, from chicken to meat, fish, seafood and veggies. I like it mostly with chicken or turkey, which is how I am most used to eating thick and rich Mole sauces.  

As simple as it is to make, this sauce uses two ancient and crucial techniques of Mexican cooking that enhance the flavors of the ingredients and bring a ton of personality to a dish: charring and toasting. First the onion and garlic take a quick turn under the broiler to become charred. When cooked this way, their sharp, crisp and pungent flavors are transformed, and they show depth and sweetness, while also becoming a bit rustic in flavor. Then the ancho chiles, almonds, cinnamon, allspice and whole cloves take a turn either in a skillet or comal, for a light toast. Toasting them intensifies and deepens their flavor, releasing new aromas and adding a kind of warmth to the dish.

As the chiles have been dried for a long time, aside from giving them a light toast, you need to rehydrate them and plump them back to life. This is accomplished by soaking them for 10 minutes in a hot bath. Remember to save that water from the chile bath, as it has some of the intense flavors and colors of the chiles that will enrich your mole sauce. At this point, everything gets blended in a blender. (Note: If you used True or Ceylon cinnamon, puree it along with the rest of the ingredients. It is light and thin, and purees easily. If you only found the hard Cassia kind of cinnamon, simmer in the mole sauce further on.)

Combine your blended chiles, along with the pumpkin puree, in a big pot. You can use pre-made pumpkin puree from the store, or make your own pumpkin puree with those extra pumpkins that are sitting on your front porch! If you decide to go this route, making the puree is pretty simple. Quarter the pumpkin, remove the seeds and fibers, roast in the oven at 400 ºF until soft, and then process the pumpkin meat in a blender or food processor until smooth.

After you simmer the pumpkin puree and ancho chile puree, it will be incredibly rich and smooth, just like its flavor. A time-saving tip?  You can make the Pumpkin and Ancho Chile Mole ahead of time, just heat it when you are ready to serve it. Topping it with toasted pumpkin seeds makes the dish all the more fabulous.  You can taste it already, right?

Pati Jinich’s Ancho Chile and Pumpkin Mole

• ½ white onion (peeled; charred; or broiled)
• 6 cloves garlic (charred or broiled and peeled)
• 3 ancho chiles (stemmed; seeded; and opened)
• ¼ cup slivered almonds
• 5 whole cloves
• ½ stick, about 1-inch true or Ceylon cinnamon (substitute for 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (about 1 3/4 cup)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher or sea salt, more to taste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar or more to taste
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds (lightly toasted)

Click here for the full recipe.

If you want to see more of Pati Jinich doing what she does best, tune into her show Pati’s Mexican Table, now airing on local PBS stations. Upcoming shows will include cover regions like Xochimilco in Mexico City, and nearby Puebla, as well as episodes dedicated to tacos and vegetarian Mexican dishes. 

Check out the trailer here!