Spicy Butternut Squash w/ Green Tomato Salsa & Lime Crema

1 Prep ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Wash and dry the fresh produce. Cut off and discard the squash ends. Peel the squash; separate the neck and bulb. Halve the bulb lengthwise; scoop out and discard the pulp and seeds, then small dice the squash. Peel and mince the garlic. Peel and small dice the onion. Grate the cheese. Core and small dice the tomato. Using a peeler, remove the lime rind, avoiding the pith; mince the rind to get 2 teaspoons of zest (or use a zester). Quarter the lime. Roughly chop the cilantro leaves and stems. Cut out and discard the stem, ribs and seeds of the pepper; small dice. Immediately wash your hands and cutting board afterwards.

2 Brown the squash:
In a large pan (nonstick, if you have one), heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil on medium-high until hot. Add the squash and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes, or until lightly browned and slightly softened.

3 Make the filling:
To the pan, add the onion, garlic, spice blend and as much of the pepper as you’d like, depending on how spicy you’d like the dish to be. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes, or until softened. Add 2 tablespoons of water and cook, stirring occasionally, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the water has cooked off. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl.

4 Assemble the empanadas:
Lightly oil a sheet pan. Fill a small bowl with water. Place the empanada wrappers on a work surface. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the filling into the center of each wrapper (you may have extra filling); top with some of the cheese. Using your fingers, working 1 at a time, lightly moisten the edges of the wrappers with water; fold in half over the filling. Firmly press down on the edges with a fork to crimp and seal completely. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan.

5 Bake the empanadas:
Place the empanadas in the oven and bake, rotating the sheet pan halfway through, 16 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed up. Remove from the oven and let stand for at least 2 minutes before serving.