Christmas dinner is fast approaching. Our roasted butternut squash with spiced stuffing is the perfect substitute for a classic roast dinner, or as a delicious accompaniment to your Christmas table spread.
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe butternut squash (around 1.2kg)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 1 bunch fresh sage
- 1 bunch fresh tarragon
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 10 sundried tomatoes
- 75g peeled chestnuts or pecans
- Par cooked brown rice
- 75g dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- Red wine
- 1 pomegranate
- The zest of 1/2 orange
Prep time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Servings: 6
Lets Begin…
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C
2. After washing the squash, slice it in half lengthways; then remove the seeds; keeping them for later.
3. Using a spoon, scoop out some more flesh to make room for the stuffing along the entire length of the squash.
4. Finely dice the excess flesh & put into your medium heated frying pan along with the seeds and a good splash of olive oil.
5. Finely chop the onion & garlic and add to the pan. Stirring regularly.
6. Pick the sage & tarragon leaves, chop together with the sun-dried tomatoes & chestnuts. Add into the pan.
7. Add the rice, cranberries, orange zest & allspice into the pan and combine. Season with salt, pepper & a swig of the red wine.
8. Mix well & fry for around 10 minutes, or until beautifully softened.
9. Pack the squash halves with the mixture, then press the two halves together to make a parcel, nice and snug.
10. Using cooking twine, bind your squash parcel to keep everything together.
11. Massage the skin with a little bit of oil, salt & pepper.
12. Place the stuffed squash in the centre of a baking pan, covering with tin foil.
13. Bake for around 2 hours, or until soft & cooked through. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes for a golden brown skin.
14. Once ready, place the squash on your serving platter of choice & remove the twine. Carve it at the table in generous thick slices.
15. Top the slices with the juicy pomegranate seeds. Enjoy!
Blog: Sustainable Christmas Wrapping
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