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Friday, November 14, 2008

Cous Cous, Turkey and Kale stuffed Winter Squash

I'll be honest here. I don't know what kind of squash I got in my box on my last delivery, but the bottom line is: It was good. It was like an Autumn Cup or Sweet Dumpling squash? - Not sure. I got the idea of stuffed squash when looking for ads at work. =) I guess it kind of helps working for the Food Network. I came across an Alton Brown video on stuffed squash. I thought to myself - I have an some awesome squash and I have stuff to stuff - Why NOT?!



Cut in half, a nice round squash is nature's bowl - a delicious edible bowl at that. You can fill it with practically anything you want. In this case, as I most often do - I used what I already had on hand. This stuffed squash turned out pretty amazing. The slightly sweet and nutty flavor of the squash paired really well with the turkey and cous cous. Oh - and photo cred: Thanks, to my lovely sister, Isa!

Ingredients:
2 small - medium squash
Olive Oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 rib celery, diced
1 cup chopped kale
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup of cooked cous cous

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squash in half and clean out the seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over each half. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the rest of the ingredients are ready to be used (about 20 minutes or so)

In a medium saute pan, sweat the onion, and garlic together with some olive oil - about 3 minutes Add in the celery and cook for another minute or two. Add in ground turkey,
italian seasoning, salt and pepper and cook until cooked through but not browned. Add in Kale, and cook until turkey is golden brown. Remove mixture from heat. Add in cous cous and mix until combined. Take out the squash from the oven and fill the squash. Do not pack mixure - let it sit loosely. Cover with foil and cook until squash is tender (about 15-20 minutes)

Optional: I had some home made chimichurri sauce in my refrigerator, so I topped each squash half with some of the sauce and put it in the oven for another 5 minutes.

5 comments:

PureCharger said...

You should post some pictures of the raw ingredients and intermediate cooking steps. That would kick ass

Austin and Diana said...

Girl! Why did I not know of this blog sooner? Maybe you sent me the link but I never checked it out...bottom line, you rock. I love you. End of story...now I am going to steal your recipes :)

choobers22 said...

I not only had the pleasure of photographing the finished product, i also got to taste it!

At this, i must talk about the process of eating a stuffed squash... first off, when i found out that i had my own half a squash, i was squashed! i mean, i guess i've eaten a whole squash, but never in that shape before...

the aroma was wonderful... i first tasted the stuffing, and that in itself was good and tasty, then digging into the squash, and eating that with the stuffing gave it a completely new level of aromas and taste, it was fabulous.

the physicality of it was a little challenging however, as the squash moved around on the plate... and it wasn't as soft as i thought it was going to be.

not to say i wouldn't eat it again, because i would! it was definitely an interactive eating experience =)

PureCharger said...

WTF?! I need more recipes!!!

Melanie said...

Hello! I came across your recipe during a google search. I made it for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS! We didn't have kale or mozzarella so I used parmesan cheese instead. It was really great and plan on making this again soon. Thanks!