Stuffed kabocha is the ultimate flexible comfort food

Sides
>
Vegetables
>
No Rules Stuffed Kabocha

No Rules Stuffed Kabocha

SKU:

I absolutely adore this recipe's flexibility. Pretty much any bread/meat/cheese will bake into onolicious comfort food.

I especially like kabocha because of its creamy yet sturdy texture, and that you can eat the whole thing, skin and all.

Not Available

Ingredients

About ½ cup Homemade Pork Sausage OR
bulk pork sausage

2 shallots, thinly sliced
4-6 slices of asiago cheese or sourdough bread, cubed
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 handfuls of grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
About 1t of dry thyme or fresh sage
Black pepper, to taste

1 kabocha, split in half and cored
Water for the baking pan
About ¼- ⅓ cup of heavy cream

What To Do

To prep, pre-heat oven to 350°F. Set out a mixing bowl for stuffing the kabocha. Set out a baking pan, 8 x 8 or 9 x 13 inches, depending the kabocha's size.

Crumble and cook the pork sausage in a pan. Remove and dump into a mixing bowl. Using the same pan, cook shallots until limp. Dump shalllots into the mixing bowl. Add garlic and bread and toss until well mixed. Add cheese and spices. Toss together to mix. The cheese won't melt, but it may start to get sticky.

Put the kabocha halves in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 13 inch pyrex pan, skin side down. Stuff the kabocha with the sausage and bread mixture. It should be stuffed full but do not smash down and compact it. It should also be a little overflowing.

Add a little bit of water to the pan, just enough to cover the bottom. Drizzle heavy cream into each stuffed half, just enough to moisten it up.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350°F for about an hour. Then take off the foil and let it go for another 15-20 minutes so everything gets nice and golden brown.

Notes and Talking Story

My boss made this for his family's Thanksgiving, and shared the recipe. He wants it known that his OG version uses a pumpkin, bacon, Gruyere, bread cubes and garlic only.
The basic idea is to stuff a squash-like vegetable with a cured meat, bread, maybe a smattering of vegetables, your favorite cheese, a bit of cream and then bake it. It is a fabulous way to use leftover Thanksgiving stuffing.
Kabocha's orange/green contrast and sturdier constitution also looks pretty if you are going presentation value.
Using a traditional pumpkin will still taste amazing, but it can result in a something that has a collapsing/imploding Halloween jack-o-lantern vibe to it.
Budget 2 hours start to finish. A great meal if you can come home early, definitely for a proper weekend meal, or as a sturdy side dish.
The proportions are close, but approximate, depending on how big or small your squash of choice is.