stuffed squash | Sew Sweet and Salty

I was again suckered by the pretty display of squash at Wegmans. Here is my delicata squash and acorn squash. These little guys are about 1 lb each, and of course baby vegetables are so much cuter than adult vegetables. I’m going to take such good care of you cutie pies!!

I am still in my squash stuffing craze, and I wanted to make a lighter filling this time. I first gave the squash a good scrub because their skins are thin and edible. I cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, and seasoned them with an onion and garlic spice mix. Put them flesh side down on a pan into the 400ºF oven. These two squash are small, so it only took about 30 minutes to roast. The smell of the pungent, savory spices and the sweet, nutty squash was really good.

While the squash roasted, I got the filling ready. Here are a little over 2 dozen medium shrimp. I happened to have frozen raw shrimp, but obviously precooked shrimp will cut down on prep and cooking time. I dropped the shrimp into boiling water for a little over a minute, and pulled them out once they turned pink.

I put them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Tough and rubbery shrimp are no good.

Here are the chopped up shrimp, 8 oz of lump crab meat, and about 8 oz of diced up ham. I wanted to use bacon, but I already had ham that needed to be eaten. If you want only seafood, try cooked scallops and fish with the crab and shrimp.

I mixed the seafood and ham with mayo and a blend of 4 cheeses. I seasoned with more of the onion garlic spice mix, and added salt, pepper, dried onion, garlic powder, dried dill, dried parsley. I didn’t measure the amount of spices and herbs, but start with a little, and add more if needed.

Here are the squash ready for stuffing.

I filled the squash up with a nice big heaping pile of the filling, and then topped them with more cheese. Put it back into the 400°F oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese melted.

I had some extra filling left, so I put it in a little ramekin, topped with cheese, and put it in the oven with the squash.

Ready for my mouth!

Seafood Stuffed Squash
Ingredients
– 1 small acorn squash (around 1 lb)
– 1 small delicata squash (around 1 lb)
– 8 oz ham
– 8 oz lump crab meat
– around 2 dozen medium shrimp (raw or cooked)
– 1/2 cup mayo
– 1 cup shredded cheese
– more cheese for topping
– seasoning (I used an onion garlic spice mix, along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried onion, dried dill, and dried parsley)

Directions
– Scrub, halve, and deseed the squash. Drizzle with oil, season and put flesh side down on a pan. Roast at 400°F for about 30 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
– If the shrimp is raw, cook it in boiling water for about a minute until it turns pink. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Chop the shrimp up.
– Chop up the ham.
– Mix the shrimp, crab meat, ham, mayo, cheese, and seasoning.
– When the squash is done roasting, fill them up with the mixture and top with more cheese. Put them back into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.

I’ve pretty much faceplanted onto the bandwagon full of fall squash. Get ready for squash experiments galore!

I was browsing at Wegmans, and saw a pretty assortment of fall squash. I impulsively plopped a kabocha squash in my cart. I’ve never tasted kabocha before, but it looked like a cute green pumpkin, and I just had to get it.

I was excited to try kabocha, so I started cutting it before I really thought things through. I had plans to stuff the squash, so in hind sight, I should have just cut the top off and hollowed out the middle, as if I were carving a jack-o-lantern. In my haste, I cut it into quarters. It still worked out, but leaving it whole would have allowed for more meaty filling, and a nicer presentation.

So anyways, I quartered the squash, scooped out the seeds, and hit it with some oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

I turned the squash flesh side down, and popped the tray in a 400°F oven for about 40 minutes until the flesh was easily pierced by a fork. By the way, that nice green skin is edible, and softens after cooking. Be sure to scrub it well so you can get that extra fiber in you.

While the squash roasted, I got the filling ready. I had a tray of Italian sausage, and I used kitchen shears to cut off the sausage casings.

I browned the sausage on medium heat.

I added a chopped up onion, several garlic cloves, about 4 oz of tomato basil feta crumbles, and chopped up the leftover roasted tomatoes I saved from my spaghetti squash dish from a few days ago. If you don’t have roast tomatoes, you can chop up some fresh tomato or use canned tomato. I did not add salt since the sausage, feta, and tomatoes were already seasoned.

I filled the squash quarters with the sausage mixture. Then I topped them with a slice of provolone cheese.

I popped it back into the 400°F oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese melted and browned. YEAH, easy to make, hearty fall meal. The kabocha reminded me of sweet potato. It had that same slightly sweet taste and starchy texture. Mmm, I bet it would taste really good roasted or deep fried into crispy golden wedges. Idea for next time!

Stuffed Kabocha Squash
Ingredients
– 1 kabocha squash
– 6 Italian sausages
– 1 onion
– 6 cloves of garlic
– leftover roasted tomato (or use 4-5 medium fresh tomatoes, or a can of tomatoes, drained)
– about 4 oz of tomato basil feta crumbles
– slices of provolone cheese
– salt
-pepper
– garlic powder

Directions
– Wash, cut, and de-seed the squash. Cut it in quarters, or leave it whole, up to you.
– Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
– Chop the onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
– Cut the sausage casings off and brown the sausage meat.
– Add the onion and garlic to the sausage. After the onion becomes translucent, add the tomatoes. Note: the longer you cook the tomatoes, the more soupy the mixture will get. Mix the feta in after you take the mixture off the heat.
– Fill the squash with the meat mixture, top with the provolone cheese. Put the squash back into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese melts and browns.

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