Easy Stuffed Butternut Squash

the easy stuffed butternut squash…stuffed with the mushroom/basil/ground turkey/farro stuffings stuff that make for a perfect hearty fall meal

Anything stuffed is a much better choice than unstuffed….right?? Well, okay and also easier. I mean, if you stuff something then its a one pan meal stuffed with all the necessities.

Growing up my mom always stuffed squash, whether it was a pumpkin for Halloween or acorn squash for a thanksgiving side, some kind of squash was stuffed on our dinner table in the fall season.

Because I didn’t get around to coring out our HUGE pumpkin this year and stuffing it, I decided to tweak the recipe and stuff a smaller and more manageable butternut squash.

Why is it easier you may ask? Until I learned this trick, every time I cut a butternut squash I would wince just in case I accidentally cut off my finger in the process. They are sooo hard…literally, dense and hard.

Well, to cook a butternut squash is actually quite easy.

Here are the QUICK (safe) steps to baking a butternut squash:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Poke the butternut squash in the neck with a knife, just shallow will do.
3. Put the entire butternut squash on the rack in the oven.
4. Let bake for 45-60 min. (Depending on the size of your squash)
5. Its done once the natural sugars start oozing out and it is soft enough to fork it:)
6. THE END! you can now store it in your fridge for later or use it right then! Because we are stuffing it for this particular recipe, I had mine in the fridge. So when I needed it, I just pulled it out, sliced open the top like an envelope…the two sides fell open and just waited patiently for the stuffing to be done.

Ok now for the stuffing part. It is also very quick and painless!

STUFFING

• lean ground turkey
• tomato sauce (either a jar of marinara or homemade)
• mushrooms
• onion
• bell peppers
• tomatoes
• delicata squash
• parmasen cheese
• fresh basil
• farro (optional)

I sauted my onion and garlic in a pan with olive oil and sauted over medium heat until the onion was translucent(ish)…I knew it was going to continue to cook with the other veggies so its okay if it wasn’t COMPLETELY done.

*OPTIONAL: if you choose to add farro, I cooked it NOW in a separate saucepan on the back of the stove with chicken bouliion cube.

Then added my ground turkey to the pan, seasoning it with fresh basil, salt and pepper; breaking it up with a spatula as it cooked over medium heat.

When the ground turkey was almost done, I added the diced bell peppers, the mushrooms and the delicata squash and covered as to not loose all the moisture. (you can really add any veggies you think would suite you. I have lately had an obsession with delicata squash so have been cooking it on the bi-weekly.)

Simmer simmer simmer baby. Then I added the marinara sauce to really just combine all those flavors. And VOILA! – add farro if using and the stuffing is done.

the PRESENTATION:

Because I had baked my butternut squash earlier in the day and had stored it in the fridge, I needed to warm it up. I preheated my oven to 350.

Then poured the stuffing over the top of the sliced butternut squash, sprinkled with paramasen cheese and popped in the oven to heat the squash. (you wouldn’t need this step if you timed the butternut squash finishing in the oven around the same time as your stuffing was complete…you could just dump your stuffing in your warm split butternut squash and call it dinner!

Don’t forget to sprinkle fresh grated parmesan cheese and basil over the top!

We served with tortilla chips on the side as a little scooping spoon. Just something to think about. Wink.

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