Our farm share included some neat vegetables I hadn't seen before like eight-ball squash. They are a type of round zucchini. Fun to cook with and delicious.
As I've mentioned in a
previous post zucchini are great and have a lot of health benefits. They are also a versatile vegetable and can be served a number of different ways. The eight-balls seem ideal for stuffing because who would want to cut them up and cook them, destroying that cute shape? Having some leftover quinoa from when I last made
quinoa taboule (I always double quinoa when I cook it because we eat so much of it) I decided to create a quinoa stuffing to fill these little beauties. This turned out to be so delicious that we can't wait to get more of these squash to make it again.
If you don't have eightball squash you can substitute acorn squash. The recipe will still be delicious.
Quinoa Stuffed Eight-ball Squash
- 4 eight-ball squash, washed
- 2 C. cooked quinoa
- 1/2 C. roasted tomatoes in oil, diced
- 2 scallions, diced
- 1 clove garlic diced
- 2 T. chopped basil
- 1 t. salt
- 2 T. olive oil
Pre-heat oven to 400 F
Cut tops off of squash and set aside
Scoop out inside of squash being sure to leave a layer of flesh to maintain the shape
Place hollowed out squash into oven proof dish
Roughly chop squash
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan
Add squash to pan and saute until starting to soften
Add tomatoes, scallions, garlic, and basil and saute 2 minutes
Add quinoa and toss to mix well
Add salt and toss again
Turn off heat, fill squash with mixture
Place tops back on squash and place in oven
Bake 20 minutes
