 | | | Photos Susie Iventosch | | | | | | Fall is just around the corner, and it seems like the perfect time to do a colorful "harvesty" recipe. This one has a cornucopia of delicious ingredients! I usually buy acorn squash, but the other day a butternut squash caught my eye, and I decided to stuff that instead!
As with most stuffings, you can create your own out of whatever you might have in your refrigerator, but for this one I purposefully used dried cranberries and arugula for the color, which are so pretty with the roasted butternut squash. The rest of this stuffing includes sautéed onions, toasted walnuts, pecans, and turkey sausage for a little protein. You can make this as a vegetarian dish, too . just leave out the turkey sausage.
The ingredients call for red jalapeno jelly, which gives it a little kick, but if you don't have that no worries; just make it without.
It all depends upon how big or small the butternut squash is, but the one I bought would be enough for four or even six side dishes and anywhere between two and four main dishes. I ate an entire half by myself and didn't really need quite that much, but it was so good that I couldn't stop!
Baked Stuffed Butternut Squash
(Serves 4 as a side and 2 as a main dish)
INGREDIENTS
1 large butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
6 turkey sausage breakfast links (or patties) chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecan pieces, toasted
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
2 cups arugula leaves, loosely packed
3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. Jalapeno red pepper jelly
DIRECTIONS
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 425 F.
Cut squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and brush the cut sides and the cavity with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Place face down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until you can easily insert a knife into the flesh of the squash and the cut side is nicely browned. Remove from oven and cool.
Once cool, use a spoon or knife to cut out the flesh of the squash, leaving about 1/2-inch all the way around on the remaining shell of the squash. Leave the squash shells, hollow side up on the baking sheet. Cut the squash meat into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet and sauté onions until translucent and beginning to brown. Stir in lemon pepper, sage, salt, and pepper. Add sausage and continue to brown. Once the sausage is browned, add the nuts, cranberries, and half of the arugula, and sauté for just a few more minutes, until arugula begins to wilt. Remove from heat and add the remaining arugula, the squash pieces, and feta cheese. Toss all together and then fill the squash cavities with this mixture. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the filling and edges of the squash. If you are adding the jalapeno jelly, then just distribute it a little here and a little bit there. It will melt into the filling as it bakes.
Preheat oven to 400 F and bake for another 30 minutes or so at 400 F, until heated through and the feta cheese is beginning to brown slightly. Serve hot. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA