Creamy roasted poblano rajas with corn and cheese are a staple in Mexican cooking. Nothing pairs better with poblanos than cream, cheese and corn. It is one of many people’s favourite ways to eat poblanos, myself included. This concoction invariably makes into a tortilla to become a sublime taco.
Building onto that perfect recipe, I created this variation, making use of summer’s abundant zucchini crop. I love using yellow and green zucchini to give a recipe extra colour, especially in this one, otherwise it would be mostly white and green.
The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the poblanos. I suggest making more than you need and once you have them cleaned and deveined, you can freeze some for future use, saving you time the next time you have a craving for a poblano recipe.
A simple sauté of onion, plus the roasted poblano strips, zucchini and corn make this a delicious mixture. I use whipping cream and boil it down to reduce to the perfect creamy consistency. If you have access to Mexican crema, you can use that and skip the reducing part, as it is already the right thicker texture for this dish. Finish with queso fresco, panela or feta cheese for that extra creamy body. It is absolutely delicious. If you happen to have any leftover shredded chicken, add some to the mix and make a heartier taco filling or it could double up as an Aztec pie or lasagna filling.
Rajas Cremosas de Poblano, Calabacita y Elote
Creamy Roasted Poblano, Zucchini and Corn Rajas
4 medium poblano chiles
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or butter
1 medium cooking onion, cut into thin julienne
2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/4” pieces (about 3 cups)
1 1/4 cups corn kernels removed from 2-3 ears of corn, or frozen and thawed kernels
2 cups whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled queso fresco, panela or feta cheese
To roast poblano chiles: place chiles on tray and place a few inches under the broiler and cook until nicely charred, turning as needed until charred all over. If you have a gas stove, you can place the chiles right on top of the burners and char, turning often, until blistered all over. This can also be done on the barbecue.
Once chiles are blistered and charred, place in a bowl and cover so they can steam. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them, open them and remove all the seeds and veins. Cut them into strips.
In large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat and sauté onion until soft and golden, about 5 minutes.
Stir in roasted poblano strips, then add zucchini and corn.
Add whipping cream and increase temperature to bring the cream to a rapid boil. Stir every so often and make sure you watch it so it does not boil over. Cook until cream has reduced, about 5 minutes.
Add cheese and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Serves 4.