Pastel de Choclo

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Slice acorn squash in half and remove the seeds and pulp from the inside.
Slice squash in 1/4 thick rounds.
Lay squash on baking sheet and baste with olive oil and cayenne pepper if using.
Bake until squash is soft and lightly browned.
Remove from oven and let cool.

Heat a pan over medium heat and sauté half an onion.
Once onion is translucent, add the diced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar. Cook until mushrooms have reduced.
Once the mushrooms have reduced, add the rosemary leaves and balsamic vinegar. Cook for 4 minutes and then add the lentils (if canned rinse and drain fully) and bouillon cube dissolved in 3/4 cup water (or if using soaked/drained lentils, 1 1/4 cup water).
Stir in the rest of the onion, ground cumin, paprika, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Cook until lentils are fully soft and the mixture is moist.
Turn off heat.

If using fresh corn, boil corn cobs until corn is al dente (not fully soft). Let the corn cool and then use a knife to slice all corn from husk.
In a large pot heat and cook corn until soft. Add coconut milk, basil, salt, pepper, paprika, and continue to cook, occasionally stirring for approximately 10 more minutes.
Blend the corn mixture with a hand mixer on pulse. Make sure to leave some chunkier parts.
Add cornmeal and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Consistency should be firm.
Taste and adjust seasoning to taste. Cool and then serve. It will thicken slightly when cool.

In baking dish, layer the veggie bottom as a base, filling the bottom of the dish.
Add a layer of acorn squash on top of the veggie mixture and olives sprinkled over the top.
Cover the squash layer with the corn topper.
Sprinkle crushed walnuts over top.
Bake until slightly brown.