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two halves of stuffed butternut squash are placed on a parchment paper lined wooden board and served with spoons for scooping

stuffed butternut squash recipe

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Crisply seared ground turkey, nutty farro, woodsy sage, wild mushrooms, and sweet apples make the perfect filling for sweet roasted squash. This stuffed butternut squash recipe is a perfect main course for two, or served as a holiday side dish.

  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 2 portions as a main dish or 4-6 portions as a side dish 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 large butternut squash - mine is about 2 1/2 pounds by weight
  • 6 ounces mixed wild mushrooms - enough to yield 2 cups chopped
  • 1/2 yellow onion - enough to yield 1 cup minced
  • 1 medium poblano pepper - enough to yield 2/3 cup chopped
  • 1 small apple - enough to yield 1 cup diced
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 sprigs fresh sage - enough to yield 2 tablespoons minced
  • Cooking oil, as needed
  • Salt and black pepper, as needed
  • 1/2 cup dry quick cooking farro
  • 1 1/3 cups chicken stock, plus more for deglazing as needed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 pound ground turkey
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

Instructions

  1. Prep ingredients! Slice the butternut squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Clean and chop the wild mushrooms, removing any tough stems as you do so. Peel and mince the yellow onion. De-seed and mince the poblano pepper. Dice the apple, keeping the peel on as it adds great color and texture. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Finally, pick and finely chop the sage leaves.a halved and seeded butternut squash is placed on a work surface along with bowls of various prepped ingredients
  2. Preheat the oven to 375℉. Lightly drizzle the cut size of the squash with oil and season with salt. a halved and seeded butternut squash is oiled and salted on a small parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  3. Place the squash halves face down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 45-60 minutes until tender. The exact amount of time will depend on the size of your squash. the squash halves are turned so that the cut side is down and placed side by side on the baking sheet.
  4. In a small saucepan, combine the dry farro, chicken stock, and bay leaf. I don’t add salt here because the chicken stock I’m using is salted. If your stock is unsalted, go ahead and give it a good pinch. dry farro, chicken stock, and a bay leaf are stirred together in a saucepan.
  5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the farro is tender. After 10 minutes, remove the lid. If you see any liquid remaining, continue cooking it over low heat with the lid off, stirring often, just until all of the excess liquid is gone. Remove from the heat. the cooked farro has increased in size and the cooking liquid has fully absorbed.
  6. Heat a light drizzle of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and let it cook undisturbed for a couple of minutes to develop that delicious golden browning. Once you have those golden brown edges, you can start breaking up the ground turkey into smaller pieces. Keep stirring and moving the meat around until cooked through and golden-brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes.ground turkey is browned in a large skillet
  7. Season the browned turkey with the dried sage, garlic powder and salt and black pepper to taste.seasonings are added to the cooked turkey.
  8. Transfer the seasoned turkey to a large mixing bowl.the cooked turkey is scraped into a large stainless steel mixing bowl.
  9. Return the skillet to medium heat. Add another drizzle of oil, then add the chopped wild mushrooms.chopped wild mushrooms are added to a hot oiled skillet.
  10. Cook the mushrooms over medium-high heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until softened and lightly golden. You’ll notice they shrink down a lot! This means their savory flavor is becoming more concentrated. the partially cooked mushrooms have reduced in size and taken on a golden brown coloring.
  11. Add the minced onion and chopped poblano pepper to the skillet with the partially cooked mushrooms. chopped onion and poblano are added to the hot skillet with the partly cooked mushrooms
  12. Continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 more minutes until the onion and pepper are slightly softened.the onion and peppers have a softer texture
  13. Now add in the diced apple, sliced garlic, and chopped sage. Season with salt and black pepper.the remaining butternut squash stuffing ingredients are added to the skillet.
  14. Continue cooking for about 10 more minutes until the mixture is softened and caramelized around the edges. If you have some browned bits on the bottom of your pan, deglaze it with a splash of chicken stock, scraping the delicious up and into the veggie mixture. This brings all of those roasty toasty fall feels into our filling!the fully cooked vegetable mixture has a chunky texture and golden brown coloring.
  15. Remove the bay leaf from your cooked farro and discard. Add the farro to the bowl with your cooked turkey.the cooked farro is added to the bowl with the cooked ground turkey.
  16. Add your cooked veggie mixture to the farro and turkey mixture, stirring it all together. the cooked vegetable mixture is added to the bowl with the turkey and farro mixture.
  17. Add the melted butter and shredded parmesan, then toss to combine. melted butter and parmesan cheese are stirred into the butternut squash filling.
  18. Remove the roasted squash from the oven and use tongs to flip it over. You’ll notice the color of the squash is more vibrant and the texture is very tender. the roasted butternut squash halves have a deep orange coloring and soft, slightly collapsed appearance.
  19. Allow the squash to cool for a few minutes so that you don’t burn your fingies! Use a metal spoon to scoop out some of the flesh, creating a relatively even cavity from top to bottom.some of the squash flesh has been scraped out of each half, leaving a cavity that is about the same width and depth from top to bottom.
  20. Add about 1 cup of the cooked squash flesh to the filling mixture, giving it a good stir. Taste and adjust for seasonings (it’s all fully cooked and safe to eat!), making sure the texture is a bit tacky, which will help the filling to stay put when you go to stuff it. some of the cooked squash is added back into the turkey and vegetable filling mixture, then stirred to create a thick, uniform filling.
  21. Fill each squash half with the filling mixture. It’s good if you really pack it in there! I used all of my filling between the two halves but you may have some leftover and that’s okay. Return to the oven and roast until hot all the way through, about 10 minutes.the filling is equally divided between the two roasted butternut squash halves.
  22. Sprinkle each stuffed butternut squash half with a bit more parmesan, then return to the oven just to melt, about 2-3 minutes. Serve hot! each stuffed butternut squash half is topped with melted parmesan and ready to serve.

Notes

  • If using super lean turkey (93% or 97% lean), you’ll need to cook it in a bit more oil as opposed to less lean options like 85% or 90%. 
  • Note that the bulb area (the part where you scooped the seeds out) of the butternut squash will cook more quickly than the neck (the solid part going up the length of the squash), so make sure you use the neck of the squash to check for doneness. 
  • Depending on the size of your squash, you may have more scooped flesh than is needed to stir back into the filling. Save it for another meal (it freezes well) or mash it and eat as a side dish; I highly recommend topping it with cracked black pepper and parmesan cheese! I actually had a container of Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup in the freezer so I pulled that out the following night and blended my extra cooked butternut right into it to stretch the soup. 
  • If you have extra butternut squash filling that doesn’t fit into your scooped squash halves, definitely save that too! It’s so good on its own as a quick lunch. 
  • Author: kelly@crescentmoonkitchen
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Category: dinner
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: american

Find it online: https://crescentmoonkitchen.com/stuffed-butternut-squash-recipe/