Chef Dave Letford loves preparing his Festive Stuffed Delicata Squash as part of a Thanksgiving feast for family and friends. This dish features a bountiful, autumn harvest of meaty mushrooms, pumpkin, and cranberries along with the crunchy goodness of wild rice and almonds. Packed full of nutrients and flavor, it’s sure to be a hit at your holiday celebration with vegans and non-vegans alike! As seen in Nuvo Magazine.

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Makes 4 servings and can be easily doubled

Ingredients

• 2 medium size Delicata squash (Kuri or Kombucha squash can also be used)
• 1 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped (approximately 5-8 whole mushrooms)
• 1 cup wild rice cooked (see recipe below)
• 8 sage leaves
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3 cups carrot purée (see recipe below)

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Carrot Purée (Makes 3 cups)

• 3 large carrots
• 1/2 head garlic
• 1/2 large yellow onion
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup oat milk (3g sugar or lower)
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Chop garlic and onion to a medium dice. Allow to sweat in olive oil over medium-low heat. Lightly season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions are translucent.
• Peel and chop carrots and cut to quarter sized coins, then add to onions and garlic.
• Deglaze with white wine and add cinnamon and nutmeg.  Allow wine to reduce by half.
• Add oat milk to cover and simmer to reduce oat milk while the carrots cook (about 20 minutes).
• Once carrots are tender, add everything into a blender and purée till smooth. Split carrot purée into 1 cup and 2 cup portions to combine with stuffing ingredients as well as to coat the roasting pan.

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Wild Rice

Wild rice is cooks up easily just like dried pasta.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Cook wild rice for 30-45 minutes, checking its texture after 30 minutes. Rice should be chewy yet tender. Drain excess water. Set aside.

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Assembly

• Cut Delicata squash lengthwise from top to bottom. Chop mushrooms to match the size of the almonds and finely chop the sage leaves.
• In a mixing bowl combine cooked wild rice, mushrooms, sage, slivered almonds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and 1 cup of prepared carrot purée.
• Spread the remaining carrot purée on the bottom of a baking dish.
• Generously scoop the wild rice mixture into the cavity of the Delicata squash halves. Place on the carrot purée. Cover baking dish with tin foil.
• Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and continue baking for 30 minutes until lightly browned.

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