Back down to Earth
I've found myself caught up in a spinning whirlwind of busyness over the last few months. Thankfully it seems to have put me down for a moment so I can catch my breath, and now I feel like Dorothy acclimatising herself to her new surroundings in Oz. Are we really nearing the end of October? Halloween’s coming up? And Bonfire Night? And then (whispers)…Christmas? Where has the time gone?
I hope autumn doesn’t go by too quickly as I’m really enjoying embracing it with my cooking, as you may have noticed! Tonight’s dinner was another celebration of the season using one of my favourite vegetables; the beautiful, deeply golden, nutty and sweet butternut squash.
I wanted the squash to be the centrepiece tonight rather than a side dish and I wanted an earthy dish so I used field mushrooms along with basmati and wild rice to stuff the squash after roasting it. Butternut squash seems even sweeter when you roast it so you really need something to balance it out. The seasoning and parmesan did a good job of that; be generous with both.
Stuffed Butternut Squash
Ingredients
2 butternut squash
2 shallots
2 large field mushrooms
60g basmati and wild rice
150ml vegetable stock
A couple of large handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
1. Cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds and fibres, then place them in a baking tray and drizzle them with olive oil. Season well and roast at 200c for 35-40 minutes.
2. While the squash is cooking, finely chop the shallots and sauté them in a saucepan for a couple of minutes in olive oil. Roughly dice the mushrooms and add them to the shallots. Fry for a few minutes more then add the rice and stir to coat it with the mixture. Add the stock, bring it to the boil, then put on a lid and simmer until the rice is cooked through (about 10 minutes).
3. Once the squash is roasted fill each half with the rice mixture then sprinkle over a good amount of parmesan cheese. Then pop them back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Serves 2-4 depending on the size of the squash and how hungry you are!
P.S. How are you getting on with our 'In the Bag' challenge this month? I'm looking forward to seeing all your creations!
9 comments:
The stuffed squash recipe has been bookmarked. I love all squashes?..squash?
looks yummy!
That squash looks great, I would never have thought of putting mushrooms in it. Which is surprising as I love mushrooms with everything! I had a mushroom omlette earlier today! I will keep a hold of this recipe to try out, thanks!
Squashes are terrific, aren't they? So versatile, and best of all - so delicious!
I do a stuffed squash recipe taken from a newspaper sometime ago - it has a Middle Eastern ring to it, and is stuffed with minced lamb, and served with yoghurt.
But this looks even simpler and just as delicious!
B-nut Squash may just be my favorite vegetable...and this recipe will definitely be added to my stash. Thanks!
The mushrooms you describe are not "field" mushrooms. They are cultivated mushrooms allowed to grow large. Real field mushrooms, only to be found during limited periods of the year, have about three times the flavour.
Going to make tonight as it finally got cool down here in Texas! Perfect fall food.
Perfect. I have half a squash in the fridge and am seriously sick of soup! :)
What a great blog you have! I think I am going to try this with acorn squash (it's what I have) ... do you think it'll work okay? I'll let you know.
SO GLAD to have found you! (From Arizona, USA)
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