When I see these pretty little things, I immediately think of beheading them and stuffing their brains with delicious things like beans or rice, greens, herbs and cheese.
I asked Uncle Google for some suggestions and he showed me this page of photos so I could ooh and aah and decide which looked best.
Then I checked my fridge and freezer and decided on this:
Ingredients
2 butterkin squash (or any winter squash)
1c. Kitchen Kulture Cheese Grits (or coconut grits), defrosted
1 share oyster or shiitake mushrooms, cleaned
1 sweet pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2c. chopped tomatoes (any variety you have from your shares)
handful fresh basil, chopped
olive oil (or coconut oil)
salt and pepper to taste
cheese for melting
Preheat oven to 400F. Carefully slice the top off the squash making a shallow wide lid. Scoop out the seeds and lightly oil the flesh (alternately, you can put a little water inside) and replace the lid. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven before it gets too soft, but the side should start to give a little to the touch.
While squash is baking, heat a bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet and saute the sweet pepper and mushrooms with the garlic until soft and mushrooms begin to brown a little, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook a couple more minutes, then add grits. Continue coooking and stirring to blend all the ingredients and adjust consistency. If it’s too runny to make a good stuffing, cook a bit longer, or consider adding a bit of cheese or bread crumbs. If it’s too dry and the grits are sticking to the pan, add a splash of white wine or broth, a couple of tablespoons at a time to find the right consistency.
Carefully stuff filling into the baked squash, top with a couple of slices of melty cheese. I used scamorza, and stuffed the squash halfway, putting an extra layer of cheese in the middle. Bake until bubble and browned. Nom nom nom.
