Seasonal Ontario Food

We still have a laundry room full of squash, although they will be getting harder to find in the stores. Hopefully, there are still some out there, farmers markets probably being the best bet. Butternut - any moschata squash really - are the best squash, both for eating and for keeping.

This requires a little advance planning, but it's an excellent - festive, even - vegetarian main dish needing only a salad or green vegetable to make it a complete meal. If you still have cranberries in the freezer some cranberry sauce would go well with it too.

4 to 6 servings
2 hours including advance cooking -  45 minutes prep time


Roast the Squash & Cook the Wild Rice:
a 1.5 kilo (3 pound) butternut squash
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
2/3 cup wild rice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds and strings from the cavity. Rub the cut edges with oil and place on a baking tray. Bake the squash halves for about 1 hour, until tender.

Put the wild rice and salt into a rice cooker with 2 cups of filtered water. Turn on and cook. It should be done in about 45 minutes; remove the pot from the rice cooker until ready to proceed. You can finish the dish at once, or do this preparation up to a day in advance. If so, you should be prepared to allow the squash a little longer to bake in the next step; about an hour.

Stuff & Bake the Squash:
1 cup mashed cooked squash
3 or 4 shallots
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1 cup grated peeled celeriac OR 1 stalk of celery
250 grams (1/2 pound) shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons ground ginger
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup gluten flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts or seeds of your choice
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil

Scoop out the flesh from the squash halves, leaving about a half inch to an inch of squash all around in the shells. Arrange the shells in an oiled baking dish. Mash the squash and measure 1 cup into a mixing bowl; the rest is excess to requirements and can be saved for some other purpose.

Peel and chop the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic. Peel and grate the celeriac or wash, trim, and finely chop the celery. Trim off the stems from the shiitakes and discard them. Chop the shiitakes finely.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. 

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the shallots and celeri(ac) and mix well. Cook for a minute or two until beginning to soften then add the shiitakes and continue cooking, stirring regularly, until everything is softened and cooked down. Mix in the garlic, then add the seasonings. Cook until mixed in well and the garlic is fragrant. Transfer to the bowl with the squash. Mix well.

Mix in the wild rice until well blended. Mix in the nuts or seeds until well blended. Divide the filling between the 2 prepared squash shells. Drizzle them carefully with a little oil until the top of the filling is shiny all over. Bake for 45 minutes at 375°F. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.





Last year at this time I made Sesame-Ginger Red Cabbage.