Celebration Stuffed Squash

Stuffed pumpkins or squashes make a perfect center piece for your Autumn harvest celebration or holiday table. Be it a small informal family gathering or part of an elaborate dinner party. This dish hits plenty of notes; spicy, sweet, aromatic, creamy, crunchy it has everything. This filling recipe will stuff one large pumpkin or 4 medium acorns. That’s approximately 4-5 cups. Even if you end up with extra it’s great the next day on a toast.  So here we go!

A few things to note before you prep.

1. Massage the kale with lemon juice before you cut it. It makes the leaves pliable and sweeter.
2. Toast the walnuts and pumpkin seeds for extra crunchiness
3. if you can’t find pomegranate no worries use dried cranberries, raisins or chopped figs.
4. If you don’t want all of it to be lentils, use  half quinoa and half of lentils.
5. There are two ways to slice the acorns. 1. Cut he in halves or 2. Cut about an inch of the tops to create a lid. Scoop out the seeds and pulp.
6. You can wash the seeds and roast them along with the acorns for 20 minutes and use as topping.

Ingredients

• 4 acorn squash, halved and deseeded
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• Generous pinch of chilli flakes
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup cooked chestnuts chopped
• 2 cups cooked beluga lentils
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 cups shredded kale
• 2 cups chopped mixed mushrooms like shiitake, oyster, shiitake
• 1/2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or Hazelnuts
• 1/4 pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast or 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• Garnish
• chopped parsley and pomegranate arils

Here’s How

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Cut the acorns in half. Slice a small portion off the the bottom so the acorn halves have a firm base to sit on. Without cutting too much of the pulp.
3. Line a baking sheet and brush the cut side of the squash with about 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down for about 40 minutes, or until tender.
4. Warm a large pan. Add the olive oil. Add the onions, kale, fresh mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 7 minutes. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, chilli flakes. Add the lentils and chestnuts. Mix well add a little stock if too dry. Remove from heat and add the sage.
5. To make the topping, toast the pumpkin seeds, walnuts and the nutritional yeast in a dry pan over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
6. Fill the acorns with the stuffing, packing it down with a spoon. Sprinkle with the walnut-seed-yeast or feta topping and bake further for about 15 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley and pomegranate arils.