Welcome back to part 2 of Collabmas! This Christmas, I’ve teamed up with Johlene from Flavours and Frosting to bring you this Christmas series. Last week we brought you easy, homemade Christmas settings, this week we’re bringing you a Christmas main dish, and next week we will be showing you a Christmas dessert! For my main dish, I am showing you how to make these absolutely delicious stuffed butternut squash, stuffed with brussels sprouts, cranberries, feta cheese and brown rice.
As a Vegetarian, I have spent more Christmas’s than I can remember struggling to find something filling, delicious and Christmassy for a main dish. There are only so many times someone can eat nut roast before you just need something different.
Butternut squash is a versatile vegetable, that is great on it’s own or as part of a whole meal. It’s the perfect base for this dish, with a subtle sweetness and a nuttiness that will complement the brussels sprouts perfectly.
The filling is hearty because of the brown rice, which gives a smooth base, allowing the feta cheese and cranberries to sign through, creating that all round flavour and texture that will make this the perfect centrepiece for your Christmas dinner.
It’s an easy dish to put together, just 1 pot needed for the stuffing and a bit of roasting time for the squash. It’s definitely a dish any Vegetarians your are catering for this Christmas will appreciate, so give it a try!
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, and check out Johlene’s video hereand her blog post here!
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Stuffed Butternut Squash with Brussels Sprouts, Feta Cheese and Cranberries
Serves 4-6
Beautiful Butternut Squash stuffed with Brown rice, brussels sprouts, cranberries and feta cheese guarantees that your Vegetarian Christmas will be healthy and delicious!
Ingredients:
4 Acorn Squash,
10 Brussels Sprouts,
100g Brown Rice,
10 Chestnut Mushrooms,
200ml Vegetable Stock.
Small Handful Dried Cranberries, finely chopped,
30g Feta Cheese, crumbled,
Flaked Almonds for topping,
Parmesan Cheese for Topping.
Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut off the tops of the acorn squash and scoop out the seeds. Place the tops back on top of the squash, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Set these aside.
2. Cook the brown rice according to the instructions on the packet. Normally brown rice takes between 35-45 minutes to cook thoroughly. Cut the bottoms off the brussels sprouts and cut the sprouts in half. Saute in a frying pan over a medium heat until they just begin to soften and turn golden brown in places. Dice the mushrooms, add them to the pan and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock to the frying pan and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked and drained rice, the cranberries and the chopped parsley. Stir and let simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Crumble in the feta cheese and stir to combine. At this stage there should be no liquid left in the bottom of the pan.
4. Spoon the mixture into the butternut squash, sprinkle with almonds and parmesan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cook the lids of the squash on a flat baking tray on another shelf in the oven – you can put these back on top after cooking.
5. Serve immediately!
I love this recipe! You´ve made it perfect for Christmas by adding some real Christmas flavoured ingredients, like the cranberries, which I love :-)
Thanks Johlene! My whole house smelled like Christmas while making these! Glad you liked it!