I’ve made stuffed _____ blanks before but I have to say this recipe is by far my favorite. I had a couple of things in mind when making it. 1. I wanted it to be more flavorful than just meat and tomatoes in a gourd and 2. I wanted to sneak some additional veggies in outside of just the squash itself.
SO! To bump up the flavor I added some fennel and mushrooms. It’s just enough fennel for you to get more flavor but not enough to overpower the other flavors like fennel can sometimes do. And the mushrooms add a bit of earthiness to it. Both go awesome with the thyme. And as far as other veggies, kale is always the perfect go-to. Just chop it up small enough and you can sneak it into anything.
And some tips with the squash. I didn’t specify what squash to use because frankly, it doesn’t matter. Whichever squash you go with hollow it out and check the tenderness before you pull it out. Keep in mind you cooking times may slightly vary. But that’s the beauty of cooking, you start to figure things out on your own. You’ll know when it’s done, just pierce it with a fork or knife and see how easy it goes it. In fact, you can even use a bell pepper.
A moment of brief horn tooting.. After I made this, I kept raving about just how good it was to Brad. So much so, that I’m pretty sure my husband is going to brain me (or even himself) if I tell him how good this was one.more.time. But you guys! Seriously, it’s so good. Like if I got this at a restaurant in SF I’d be like, whoa this is good. Like if I was on Top Chef I’d make it. I think Tom would like it. This is really good, huh Brad? Brad? Don’t you think this is REALLY good? 😉
stuffed squash with fennel + mushrooms
Ingredients
- 4-6 squash of your choice
- Cooking oil of choice olive oil, avocado oil, ghee or bacon fat
- 1.5 lbs ground beef
- 2 links Italian sausage casing removed
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 C. fennel thinly sliced and chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes preferable San Marzanos
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1/2 Tbsp chopped thyme
- 1 C. chopped kale
- Salt + pepper
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400*
- In a large skillet heat cooking oil on medium high heat
- Once oil is hot add ground beef and sausage
- In a separate pan, heat additional tsp of oil on medium
- Once oil is heated add chopped onion and fennel, salt to taste
- Cook until translucent
- Add garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes until cooked through and remove from pan
- In the same pan add a touch more oil and cook mushrooms until tender
- Add fennel, onion and mushrooms into cooked beef and sausage
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, kale and thyme to pan and combine
- Lower heat to medium lower and let simmer for 10-15 minutes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Meanwhile, cut squash in half lengthwise and hollow out seeds
- Drizzle olive oil over hollowed out squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Stuff squash cavities with beef mixture and place in a baking pan
- Bake for 30 minutes
Sounds yummy, but where do the mushrooms come in? Would you saute with the onion and fennel? Quantity? Thanks.
Yes, thanks for catching that! I usually cook the mushrooms separately so they don’t get too mushy. I corrected the directions above for you. Thank you again!