Couscous and butternut squash

I’ve never brought myself to like any kind of pumpkins or squash. Back home in Calcutta, pumpkin is cooked and had in all forms – steamed, curried, fried and baked. I’ve flatly refused to eat it every time except for when it was fried with batter. Not the healthiest – I know. But my entire perspective towards the pumpkin family changed when I landed in Chicago. That I’m blogging about butternut squash shows that I’ve turned a 180 degrees on my indifference scale. And all that credit goes to a dear friend Sarah, whose simple but absolutely delish butternut squash soup bowled me over. She probably is not aware of my prior hatred and then gradual transformation but I have been cooking several butternut squash and acorn squash recipes and absolutely loving it.

Here’s the recipe for you.
 

(C = cup, T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon)

Ingredients

Spice group:

1 T olive oil or ghee

Salt to taste

¼ t pepper
1/3 C crumbled goat cheese, extra for topping

¼ C broken cashews, dry roasted

Italian seasoning (optional)

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash ½ C  diced leek

1 small red/yellow/orange bell pepper, julienned ½ C couscous + ¾ C water to cook it

 1. Preheat oven to 400˚. Slice butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and membranes.Place each half, cut side down, in a baking dish and pour about 1/2 inch of water. Place dish in oven and bake until tender, which should be about 45-60 minutes. Once done, remove and set aside.

 

2.  In a medium skillet heat olive oil or ghee over medium heat and sauté the leeks till they’re soft. Add the bell pepper and sauté for another minute. Add the couscous, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Add water and cook covered. It should take about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.

 


3. Meanwhile, once the squash cools a little, scoop them out leaving about 1/2" on the inside.

  Mash it with a fork and season with salt, pepper and cheese.

 Add the cooked couscous to the squash, mix well.

4. Fill the butternut squash halves with the couscous-squash mixture, sprinkle some more cheese and cut in half to serve !

Handy tip:

To save time you can roast the squash the day a day in advance since that takes about 45 minutes or so. The rest is pretty easy and quick.