Stuffed Butternut Squash Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 butternut squash (about 2 lbs each) ($5.12)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.19)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup) ($0.70)
• 4 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup) ($0.32)
• ½ tsp salt ($0.01)
• ¼ tsp chili flakes ($0.06)
• ½ tsp poultry seasoning ($0.11)
• ⅛ tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
• 1 lb ground mild Italian sausage ($3.75)
• 3 cups spinach ($0.99)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar, divided ($0.98)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup ($0.48)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.19)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.12)
• ¼ tsp salt ($0.01)
• ⅛ tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)

Instructions

1. Cut
2. Preheat oven to 400F. Cut butternut squash in half length-wise, leaving the skin on. You can cup off the stem to make it easier to cut in half. Seed squash and puncture sides with a fork.
3. Whisk together maple syrup, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
4. Brush the flesh of the squash with the maple marinade mixture.
5. Bake
6. On a lined baking sheet, pre-bake the squash (before stuffing) for 35 minutes, until the flesh is soft and easily pierced with a fork but not falling apart or mushy. If the neck of the squash is still a bit raw, cook an additional 5 min.
7. Cook
8. While the squash is pre-baking, prepare your filling: Combine olive oil, diced onion, diced celery, salt, chili flakes, poultry seasoning, and black pepper in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook until glossy and softened, about 8 minutes.
9. Brown
10. Then, add the ground sausage to the pan and break it up with a spatula. Cook the sausage until completely browned.
11. Stir in fresh spinach.
12. Cook until spinach is wilted, a few minutes, and then add ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese, stirring to combine.
13. Stuff each cavity of butternut squash with ¼ of the filling. Top with the remaining ½ cup shredded cheese. These should be overly full!
14. Bake
15. Once stuffed, bake for an additional 15-20 min until cheese on top is slightly browned and melted.