I made this for my Sister & brother in law tonight, in an attempt to have a healthy, one dish meal.
I improvised adding the apples and cranberries, which add a nice depth of flavor to the rice / stuffing, with out making it too sweet. Next time I might use ground turkey, as it's lower fat, and you can go a more turkey / cranberry / thanksgiving direction with the whole dish. I think it was good, and I didn't hear any complaints, but then again what kind of guest complains?
Stuffed butternut squash -
3 Acorn squash
2 cups wild rice
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2tbs butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 lb lean ground beef.
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup dried apples
1/2 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper to taste
Pre heat oven to 350.
add rice, stock, cranberries, butter and some salt and pepper to a pot, bring to a boil.
Simmer for 40-50 minutes to cook the wild rice.
cut squash in 1/2, removing stem, and scoop out seeds (set aside to make seeds later).
Spray with oo, and place cut side down in a 13 x 9 pryex dish, and roast for 30 minutes in the
preheated oven.
In a large skillet, brown beef, onions, sage, and dried apples. The apples should plump with the
moisture from the onions and meat.
When fully cooked, drain off any excess oil from the beef, then mix with rice when cooked.
Add rice and meat mixture to squash openings, place in a 13x9 pyrex, and bake in 350 oven till the
stuffing has started to get brown and crispy on top (15 minutes).
