"Stump the Cook" Stuffed Squash

Lynne Rosetto Kasper's "Splendid Table" is a fantastic public radio show for "people who love to eat." I love the semi-regular feature called "Stump the Cook." Lynne is the "cook" and listeners try to stump her by calling in with a list of random ingredients they have in their fridge or pantry. They recite the ingredients on air and Lynne then has a few minutes to devise a dish using those ingredients. 

I hate for food to go to waste and I don't usually cook from recipes so I play the home version of this game very often.  Every once in a while, I hit on a dish that's a keeper.  This date-stuffed squash dish made me a winner a few weeks back--so much so that I've served it a few times since and even adapted the stuffing for mushrooms that were part of our Christmas feast.

Brightly striped delicata squash start showing up at our farmer's market in mid to late summer and they stick around until into the winter.  We generally stock up on them this time of year because they store well and retain sweetness. Better still, the tough skin softens nicely to an enjoyably edible texture when roasted.

Prepping them for the oven is a cinch--just cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out the guts and seeds.  Brush them lightly with olive oil and place them into a 450 degree oven face down on a nonstick baking sheet.

 Meanwhile, some of the stuffing comes together on the stovetop.

One red onion, roughly chopped goes into the skillet over medium heat along with three to four good sized garlic cloves cut in half.  Sweat those until they soften and toss in two jarred roasted peppers also rough chopped (fresh peppers will work too, but I don't usually have those in my fridge and the flavor is not as strong).  Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes more so the peppers are warmed through.

Once the veggies are cooking, add 3 veggie burgers to the oven (I used Amy's Organic Cheddar Burgers) on a separate baking sheet cooking each about 4 minutes per side.

Separately, chop up kalamata olives (I used two per squash half) and pitted medjool dates (three to four per half).

In my oven, two medium delicata usually take about 15 minutes to roast through.  I take them out when the skin softens and yields to the touch.  Remember that they will need to keep their shape sufficiently to hold the stuffing so don't over-roast.

When the squash are roasted and the onions, garlic, and peppers cooked, combine the veggies from the skillet, the dates, and the veggie burgers in the work bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a couple of times until the stuffing blends together but retains a coarse texture as shown above (I pureed it the second time I made it.  The flavor was the same, but it came out a uniformly brown mush that doesn't look so appetizing and had a less interesting mouthfeel).

Set the oven to broil, spoon equal amounts of the coarsely processed stuffing into the halved squash, and top each with 1/2 ounce of cheddar cheese and chopped olives.

Place the squash under the broiler for a minute or two--just long enough to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven and serve after they've cooled for a minute or two.