Seasonal Stuffed Butternut Squash

Now autumn has arrived we have a plethora of new seasonal veggies to enjoy including all types of squashes.

Stuffed butternut squash is a fantastic centrepiece dish for a veggie get-together or a flavourful side dish for your more carnivorous friends.

These remarkable shaped squashes are perfect for this sort of dish as they contain very few seeds to deal with and absorb all the added veggie flavours when cooking. The perfect taste-packed meal all the family can enjoy.

Difficulty: Medium
Time: 1 hour(s) 5 mins
Servings: 6
Calories: 196

Dairy Free
No added sugar
Source of fibre
Vegan
Vegetarian

Ingredients

Stuffed butternut squash

1 large butternut squash
low cal oil for roasting
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
250g Microwaveable pack of mixed grains - try quinoa, bulgar wheat and pearl barley
150g mushrooms
1tsp dried thyme
1/2tsp dried rosemary
2tsp lemon zest
60g dried cranberries
50g chopped cashews

Instructions

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 200•C. Chop your butternut squash in half lengthways, and use a spoon to remove the seeds.

Lightly oil all over with the low cal oil and place flesh side down on a baking tray.

Cook in the oven for around 15-20 minutes then turn over and cook for a further 20 minutes. the squash flesh should be fairly soft at this point, but if not cook for a little longer.

Once the squash has cooled a bit remove some of the inside leaving around an inch or so at the edges to hold your filling.

Step 2:

In a pan place a little low cal oil and saute the chopped onion and chopped garlic. Add the dried herbs at this point and cook till the onion is translucent.

Chop the mushrooms add to the pan and cook through.

Step 3:

Follow the instructions on the microwaveable grains and then add this plus the cooked onion and mushroom mixture to the bowl with the butternut squash flesh you removed.

Mix thoroughly. At this point, if you are using the chopped cashews, add these into the pan used for the mushrooms and toast slightly till they begin to brown.

Add these to the bowl plus the lemon zest and cranberries. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.

Step 4:

Fill the squash halves with your stuffing mixture, you could even top with some grated cheese at this point, then return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

Slice and serve with mixed veg or rice. Enjoy