Stuff your squash!



Before 2010, I had never even touched a butternut squash, let alone prepared one.  They were on the "scary vegetable" list of things I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.  I always associated odd looking veg with hippies, posh cooks or people that actually eat the parsley that people put on our meals.  I know now that this isn't true.  My own narrow mindedness.  The thing about weight loss is it literally shoves you into a corner where you have to try new things or be on a disgustingly restricted diet....

So, I ran into a supermarket, picked up the first one I saw and took it home.  Well, I paid for it first, obviously.

The first thing I did with it was a soup recipe I stole from a magazine.  It took me 40 minutes to peel and de-seed it, because I tried to do it with a potato peeler and a small vegetable knife.  It's a pretty tough vegetable when it's raw.

After a couple of months (and a brand new, very large, very sharp knife) I started looking at different recipes and I finally followed someone's advice and tried it stuffed.

The great thing about Butternut squash is that you can stuff it with pretty much anything, rice, cheeses, other vegetables & there are various packet mixes.

This is my favourite "Stuffed Squash" recipe.  I got it from the back of a wrapping on a bag of spices.  Seriously, you can find some brilliant recipes on packets!

A medium butternut squash - Cut in half from top to bottom.
A mozzarella ball

1 red onion - quartered
1 white onion - quartered
80g Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon of garlic crushed

1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 teaspoon of coriander

1/4 teaspoon of ginger

1 teaspoon black pepper.
A pinch of Rosemary& thyme (not essential, but very lovely!)
1/2 teaspoon of honey

Pinch of pepper or chilli powder

Preheat your oven to about gas mark 6 (about 190-200 degrees).

Prep - there are two ways to do this part. Both start the same though! Deseed the butternut squash, score it and mark out an edging of where you are going to scoop out the flesh.

Now - you can either pop it in the oven for 45 minutes. Or, place it on a plate, place two tablespoons of water on it, cover with Clingfilm and put in the microwave for 4-6 minutes.





 Once you have the (very hot, be careful!) butternut squash halves, scoop out the flesh, leaving about 1cm's worth of flesh at the bottom and on the sides.

In food blender place the onions, mozzarella, breadcrumbs & seasonings. Add the hot scooped out flesh from the Butternut squash and mix on a low speed. Add the teaspoon of honey and give it a short pulse of blending. Make sure it has all been evenly chopped, if it has turned into a pulpy mess - don't fear, it'll still taste fine!

Evenly place the stuffing between the two scooped out halves of the butternut squash, press down before sprinkling with the cheddar cheese evenly between the two.

Place on a greased baking tray and pop in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes.

You can serve this with rice, and it goes really well with sausages.  Anyone have any other good stuffed squash recipes?