Stuffed Butternut Squash

The sweet & savory filling made with squash, apples, lentils, almond butter and a few other nourishing ingredients makes a great main vegetarian dish for the holidays that is super tasty and satiating. Happy Holidays!!!

INGREDIENTS

For butternut squash

• 1 large Butternut Squash or two small butternut squashes
• ¼ cup almond butter made with the NutraMilk
• 2 tsp oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• generous dash of black pepper

For the Filling:

• 1 tsp oil
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds preferably crushed
• 1/4 tsp dried sage or 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 cup (40 g) of finely chopped red onion
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 15 oz can of lentils drained, or 1.5 cups cooked lentils
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 of an apple, chopped small
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or other nut of choice

For almond butter

• 2 cup almonds (300g)
• 1/8 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Making almond butter

• Place almond and salt in the NutraMilk container.
• Press Butter cycle, set for 12-13 minutes.
• Press Start.
• Open the container lid.
• If necessary, set for an additional 1-2 minutes for a creamier butter.
• Slice the butternut squash into half. Remove the seed box, then drizzle, brush all over with oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 C) for 45-50 minutes, or until cooked completely in the middle.

• Meanwhile, make your lentil filling. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add oil, then add in your fennel seeds, and herbs, sage, thyme, rosemary, and mix in.
• Add in the onion, garlic, and mix in, and cook until the onion is golden.
• Add in your lentils, salt, onion powder, black pepper, and mix in, then add in the apples, pecans, and mix in, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture is heated through. Taste and adjust flavor.

• Remove the butternut squash from the oven. Scoop out the middle portion of the butternut squash, leaving about half an inch in the squash.
• Mash the butternut squash that you removed with almond butter and lightly mix into the lentils. You don’t want to completely mix it in, there should be some blobs of butternut squash in the lentil mixture. Also, if you handle the mixture too much, the lentils will start to break down.

• Spoon the lentil mixture into the scooped out butternut squash. sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper, and bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, or broil for 1-2 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and serve as is, or serve with a drizzle of lemon juice, or a side of gravy

Notes

• If you don't find any butternut, use acorn squash.
• Instead of apples, you could easily use pears - make sure they are still a bit hard or they will turn into mush while baking.
• Walnuts or hazelnuts make a great substitution for pecans.
• I used a mix of thyme, rosemary, and sage in this recipe, but you can use any combination of sturdy herbs, including oregano.
• This is delicious as is but you could also drizzle it with some tahini or vegan sour cream.

Prepared and photographed by NutraMilk nutritionist, Florencia Tagliavini.

Recipe inspired by Vegan Richa.